Please Don't Leave Me Alone
by banananapeel
Summary: Based off of "Before the Storm" duet with Nick and Miley and concert in Dallas, TX. Miam for a little bit but happy ending for Niley. Finished, but with an open ending so that it may start up again some time in the future.
1. Chapter 1

It had been so long. The last time she performed was with Mitchel at The Grove. She was waiting beneath the stage; and then he came.

It was silent, she was looking down, and her earpiece kept slipping out. Her mom was off to the side, she would stare at her for the confidence she needed.

_You'll be fine Miley._ He had said. _The song is a hit, everyone will love this surprise we've cooked up._

She began breathing in, and out. In, and out. The platform began rotating.

_Uh oh._

She looked over at him and smiled, he smiled back and she felt the butterflies.

She grabbed her stomach, making sure it was freaking out to bad.

He looked over with a concerned look and she just smiled.

They both heard the music in their earpieces. Why wouldn't hers just stay in?

_Yea-aah._

_Whooo-ooh._ _I know this isn't what I wanted. I never thought it'd come this far._

She was thinking back to before the show, how she and the brothers had just been together again, like it was 2007 and they were on her tour and they were just getting big. They had only experienced so little compared to now.

_Thinking back to where we started, _June 11th, 2006, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, she was there in her mind for only a second, _and how we lost all that we are._ December 19th, 2007, the day she wrote ten whole pages about why she loved him and how she would never give up on them.

_We were young and times were easy. _She couldn't make eye contact when he was singing. She would try, but it would just be to hard. _But I could see it's not the same._

If there was one thing in this world that made her smile the most, it was when he sang, because she knew he was his happiest then.

_I'm standin' here but you don't see me, I'd give it all for that to change._

She smiled off into the distance, looking for Kevin or Joe, or even one of the thousands of cameras that would get a great "Niley" picture.

_But I don't want to lose her, don't wanna let her go._

"Why don't you come to Dallas, perform with us?"He'd asked over the phone.

"Yeah, cause all those thousands of girls came to see us sing a duet about our past relationship?" she'd responded, hoping he'd fight harder.

"Miley, it's doing so well. The studio is even making it a song that you can only get if you buy the whole album. _That's_ how well it's doing." He said.

"I don't know, Nick. That's Dallas, what if I don't get there in time?"

"Miley, you're at the very end, it's 11 am right now, oh and thanks for waking me up so early."

"Hey, I'm like an hour or something ahead of you, I thought it was okay!" She said, in her playful way.

"You're at the end, and somebody might've arranged with your mom for this to possibly be happening and your mom might've said yes on your behalf." He said, playing right along with her.

"You did not!" Before she heard his response she screamed "MOOOOOOM!"

Her mom came in, "What is it? Are you okay?" She looked at the phone and realized that there was only one person she was talking to on the phone now a days. "Hunny, just let him sweet talk you into it. He always knows how to get you to do things."

She put the phone back to her ear and could hear him trying to muffle his laughs.

"Okay, fine. But if my voice sounds bad it's because I didn't get to do my proper eating schedule." She said. She hung up, knowing that she didn't need to say goodbye.

_Standin' out in the rain, I need to know if it's over, cause I will leave you alone._

_I'm flooded with all this pain, knowing that I'll never hold ya._

_Like I did before the storm._

She got off the plane, she was used to humidity and Texas was a nice cooler from that. It was still extremely hot, but somehow not as bad as Georgia. Maybe it was just because of what she knew she was gonna get to do that made Texas better to her.

_With every strike of lightning._

_Comes a memory that lasts._

She'd been texting him all day, and had now just told him she was going to chik-fil-a.

"oooh, get me a peach milkshake."

"no problem."

She went back up to the counter and got one.

_And not a word is left unspoken, as the thunder starts to crash._

_Maybe I should give up. _

_Standin' out in the rain, need to know if it's over, cause I will leave you alone._

Miley and her mom were headed to the stadium in a big car driven by a man in black.

"Are you nervous, sweetie." Her mom asked.

_I'm flooded with all this pain, knowing that I'll never hold ya._

_Like I did, before the storm._

"Yeah, but it's just one song, and you know, it's not like I'm new to this." She said, picking at the straw in the milkshake.

"You'll be fine, and you're singing with one of your best friends, right?"

How did she know? She hated that he was only her best friend, she wanted him to be her everything. He practically was, she called him when she found a quarter in the couch cushions, she texted him when she walked in a restaurant and only three people noticed (instead of a frenzy). She just couldn't call him her boyfriend. She'd just broken up with Justin because she knew the distance would be too much for their relationship. How could she then turn around and get with Nick when they would see each other less than she would've with Justin. Justin was even willing to drop everything and go with her to Georgia.

_I try to keep, the lights from going out._

"Mom, what am I supposed to do? I love him. I knew it from the second I walked out of the recording studio with him. It's like singing a duet is romantic, but singing a duet about your past relationship, and how you both miss it, it's like a double whammy. I just got all those feelings back."

_And the clouds from ripping out my broken heart._

_They always say, a heart is not a home, without the one who gets you through…_

_The storm._

"Hunny, there is nothing I can tell you that will make them go away. There is nothing that will change this until you face it head on. Figure it out."

She loved that about her mom, she told her everything she needed to hear, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

_Standin' out in the rain, knowing that it's really over, please don't leave me alone._

_I'm flooded with all this pain, knowing that I'll never hold ya._

She glanced over at him, this time, finally able to lock eyes with him. Why did it have to be a rotating stage? She was already dizzy enough.

_Like I did, before the storm._

She went to hug him and gave a kiss.

His cheeked warmed up; he smiled. _Why does it have to be a rotating stage?_ He thought as he jumped off before it was too late.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow. Five reviews. I'm so happy right now! :D I never thought I'd get anybody reading this! I'm so happy! Of course I'll do another chapter. I'll probably even do a few more. **

Miley waited in her dressing room, she was watching the boys on the TV monitor doing "Burnin' Up", Big Rob had just gotten on stage. The TV was muted because everyone that was in her dressing room was mingling and talking.

Denise Jonas had just left so she could be there right when the boys got off the stage. Miley missed her the most out of the Jonas family. Well, the most other than Nick. She was like Miley's little voice inside her head. Whenever Miley was about to do something she wasn't sure about, she heard Denise's voice. Miley would stop and think, _What would Denise think of me?_ She needed that voice, constantly. She hoped it would never go away.

Miley looked up at the screen and saw the boys taking their bow together. She got up and went to her mom and slipped her arm around her mother's.

"We'll go in a bit, hunny, the boys will want to change from their sweaty clothes." Her mom said.

Miley just nodded and waited patiently. But she couldn't. She wanted Nick, she wanted to see him. Now. It didn't help that she couldn't get the song out of her head.

_Standin' out in the rain, knowin' that it's really over,_

_Please don't leave me alone._

She walked out of the dressing room and headed straight for their dressing room.

_I'm flooded with all this pain, knowing that I'll never hold ya, like I did_

_Before, the storm._

She was there again, on the stage, standing there in the center singing the last line.

_Like I did, before, the storm._

She locked eyes with him for the longest she had all night. Even backstage before the concert it was hard, knowing she was about to sing with him, in a breakup duet, in front of thousands of girls.

The room was spinning again, _Am I really still on the stage?_ She leaned against a wall and looked for a spot to stare at. She found a guitar pick on the ground and stared at it. She noticed where the plastic was wearing off and where it had been chipped.

"Are you okay?"

**Ooooh, cliffhanger, I just had to end it there, so perfect! But I promise, I'll work on it tonight and *fingers crossed* post another chapter by tonight or tomorrow morning.**

**Okay, I changed my mind a bit; I want to continue on with this for a while. I hope to post a chapter everyday. I'll force myself to do it! And if I don't you all should flood my inbox with messages!!! **


	3. Chapter 3

**So this is probably going to go on for a few more chapters, not like 20 or nothing. But as I've been brainstorming for storylines for this one I've been coming up with some good story lines that would work good as a story on their on. So expect those.**

**And let me just apologize; I just reread what I posted for "Chapter 2", and boy that was just, wow. I really should've just had you guys wait until tonight and just put it in here.**

"Miley, say something." He said, staring at her with such intensity. She thought his eyes were going to melt or something.

She then looked down and realized he was grabbing her arms. "Yeah, Nick, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You didn't look so good right before we went on." There was a silent pause, "Miley, you're not pregnant are you?" Nick said playfully.

"No, of course not!" They giggled for a moment before they realized what an awkward joke that was. Nick let go of her arms.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Miley asked looking for other people.

"Well, I think me and Joe and Kevin have to get to the hotel sooner rather than later cause we have to go to Canada in the morning for the Much Music Awards." Nick said.

"Oh right, sweet ol' Canada." Miley said looking down.

"What's wrong?" Nick said smiling; she didn't need to look at him to know when he was smiling.

"I guess I just figured I'd have more time to hang out with everyone." Miley said, now picking at her nails, feeling embarrassed for sounding so pathetic.

"Well, just because we need to be back at the hotel," Nick lifted up her chin so she was looking at him. "Doesn't mean I'm going to bed."

She smiled and grabbed his wrist.

She wanted to scream right then and there. _WHAT ARE WE? Are we truly just friends? Or friends trying to avoid the fact that we can't stand being __**just**__ friends? I want you to want me, I want to want you and know it's not wrong. I want to know that at 2:30 in the morning I can call and know you won't be mad at me. I want to know that you'll actually be so excited that I'm thinking about you at 2:30 in the morning. _

He dropped his hands to his back pockets and she let her arms fall to her sides. She was so lost staring at him that she didn't realize that he'd let go was because of the dark-haired family headed towards them.

She hugged Kevin, Joe, Frankie, Kevin Sr., and Denise. They chatted for a bit about how her movie was going and how excited she was for tour. Then Miley quickly moved over right in between Joe and Kevin. Joe gave her a shoulder hug and didn't drop his arm. She felt comforted.

They stood in the hallway for a while as more people came out and started talking with everyone. Joe then finally spoke to Miley.

"What's wrong?" He said, not looking at her, acting very cool.

"Nothing… -ish." Miley said looking up at him.

"You wanna talk about it?" Joe said, still acting like he was king of the world. I guess he got like that after concerts.

"You've heard everything I'm going to tell you. You're brother has got the award for best-mixed signals locked. I don't know what he wants or what he's feeling about me. From what he says, it's friends, but from what I see in his eyes and when he touches me, it's like we're so past friends." Miley said stepping back and now forcing Joe to look at her. "I'm just waiting for his call."

Joe understood that what Miley meant was that she was waiting for someone to give Nick the kick in the butt he needed. At least the one needed to make him choose. Miley always got her butt kicked by her mom, Nick's source for that was his brothers.

Miley didn't know how to better explain to the rest of the world that they were brothers. Not just in their blood, but they did act like brothers. They talked about everything, they found a confidant in each other when they couldn't go to their parents and didn't feel comfortable telling just any old friend. They were their worst critics and their greatest supporters. No matter what happened, they'd always have each other.

"Okay, so I talked to mom and she said you could come over to the hotel with us and hang." Nick said, stepping in on the conversation before Joe could say anything to Miley.

Miley stared at Joe. "Cool, my mom should be cool with it, I think we're even in the same hotel." She then turned to Nick. "I don't know why I just remembered that. I guess tonight's been kind of crazy. I don't think I could fully tell you what city we're in."

Nick smiled and looked at Joe who was just staring at Miley. _Ummm, you're the one that outted the fact that her and me were maybe dating. Do you want her, buddy?_ Nick was a little sore from the interview with Larry King. He thought there were some things his brothers just knew not to mention unless he brought it up. And even then he usually wanted that question to just disappear.

"Come on Miley, even I could tell you that we're in…" Joe paused. "I should know this shouldn't I…" He said looking at Nick.

"Dude, it's our home, Dallas." Nick said, with a 'really?' look on his face.

Miley giggled and bit her bottom lip. She slowly gravitated closer to Nick, her wrists almost touching his.

After a few more minutes of chatting, Nick and his family headed out to their car as Miley and her mom went to theirs. He smiled at her and she smiled back. The car ride consisted of Nick and Miley texting back and forth.

When they got to the hotel Miley's car was right behind the Jonas'. She and Nick just naturally drifted towards each other.

Nick had to go up to his room with his family but wanted to separate from them ASAP and head off with Miley. After talking with his mom about the fact that he was fine to get little sleep tonight and he'd be back by one at the latest, he left with Miley.

The hotel they were staying at had a rooftop pool. They went up and sat on some lounge chairs. They looked up at the stars.

"You know, I'm quite good at astrology." Miley said.

"You mean astronomy?" Nick said, chuckling.

"Well, both, but I can point out some constellations for you." Miley said.

For a while they just stared at the sky, Miley pointing out all the constellations. "So far it's my favorite subject in school."

After pointing out the Libra, Miley said, "And my favorite star of all, the second to the right."

"And straight off to Neverland." Nick said, smiling.

Miley sat up and looked over at him. "You do know that's just like, our movie."

She'd watched it with him so many times on tour. She'd always loved the feeling she got from watching that movie. The feeling of never letting the kid in you die, and knowing that there is no such thing as impossible. She knew Nick, at the time, had always been so worried about everything. She'd hope that if he watched it enough he'd get the same feeling and just mellow out.

"Yeah, that's why I wrote 'Fly With Me'." He said, still looking at the stars.

Miley bit her bottom lip. Nick looked over at her and smiled, he reached over with his hand and grabbed hers, pulling her onto his chair. She cuddled up next to him. She'd found the perfect little niche on his chest where her head fit just perfectly. He wrapped his arm around her as she then continued to name other constellations.

**Don't think it's done and over with yet! This was just the cute little calm **_**before the storm**_**. Oh yeah, I did totally just use that. I've got something good planned. It should be up tomorrow afternoon! Hope this makes up for the worst chapter **_**ever**_**.**


	4. Chapter 4

Miley had pointed out as many stars as she could, even resorting to the easiest one, the Big Dipper. They were silent for the longest time. Miley thought he was asleep, and Nick thought she was asleep.

Miley was trying to remember the last time she had just laid down and not down anything with another person. With Justin she was usually talking or tickling or something. The last time she'd just kicked back was, well, with Nick.

She couldn't believe that after all this time that the little niche on his chest was still there. It was right underneath his armpit; although there were some encounters with bad B.O., it had been her favorite place in the entire world. She could hear his heart beat, and she would lay her had on his chest and watch her hand move up and down as breathed. And if need be his face was only a few inches away. The farthest Miley really would only want it to be.

She couldn't hold it in any longer. "I can't believe it's still here." She said, not entirely sure that he was awake.

"What?" He asked, with alarm in his voice, assuming she was asleep.

"My little soft spot on your chest." She said, calmly.

He chuckled softly, "Yeah, I guess something like that is with you for life."

She tilted her head up at him. "And us?"

He smiled inquisitively at her.

"Will we always be friends?" Miley asked. Nick was silent; she knew what he was doing; ignoring it. _Nick, you're looking me straight in the face, you can't just pretend I didn't just ask you a question._

"Nick, I don't want us to be friends. I want us to be that couple that says we're each other's best friends, but really, we're each others everything. The person that we couldn't stand to see go. I want us to be the couple that fights and never gives out blows below the belt, because we couldn't stand to see the other that hurt. And I most definitely want to be the couple that makes up with the best kiss ever." Miley said, with a passion Nick had seen very few times from her.

He just stared at her. He finally got out, "Miley… How?"

She got up off the chair and stared at him. "How? _How?_ What the heck do you mean by that, boy?" She said with her thick southern drawl. He knew he was in trouble, when she talked with her southern drawl, he was in deep.

Nick stood up, standing only inches away from her. "Miley, you just broke up with Justin. You can't have healed that fast. I know he may not have been "the one" or whatever you're looking for, but you dated him for what, almost a year. I don't want to be a rebound."

"Nick, you're not a rebound, you're the boy, the boy that has been with me through everything. Even when we weren't talking, I knew if I really needed you, you'd be there for me. You were even there when Justin and me broke up." She'd been staring Nick straight in the eye the entire time. She was shaking because she was getting so fired up about this. "Maybe I am really emotional right now. But these feelings have been here long before Justin. Whenever I was with him I would think 'I wonder if Nick would like this' or 'I need to tell Nick about this'. Sometimes even 'I should come back with Nick, it would be much more fun.' I need you."

The gaze between their eyes was finally broken when Nick looked down. "Miley, I know why you broke up with him." He looked up at her. "The distance. You can't turn around and get with me. We'd only see each other for a day or two before we'd be off in some other city. I won't let you create a double standard just because it's me."

Miley just stared at him. Now she was mad. "Nick, whatever actions _I_ do and the regret and consequences that may come with them are my own." She was glaring at him. She then started shaking her head, "Besides, I didn't just break up with Justin because of the distance."

"Then why did you break up with him Miley?" Nick said, getting just as mad at her.

"That has nothing to do with us, Nick." She started smiling, even laughing a little, "I can see it in your eyes; you miss this. You miss our fights."

_Why are my eyes such dead giveaways?_ Nick thought before saying, "No, unlike you, some people enjoy not having confrontation every other day. Especially confrontations that aren't about who had the last bagel, but are about relationship status and feelings and gushy stuff."

Miley laughed again, _I guess you and Selena never got in this heated of conversations._

"What, what is so funny? Thinking about when you hit me so hard I bruise and then bring up something about how I miss it?" Nick was upset.

"Nick, I feel like I've had it pretty easy as far as the past year and a half goes. You've had to watch me be with Justin and having the time of my life." _Wow, Miley, you're __**so**__ modest. _She thought to herself. "I haven't had to see all this stuff about you dating any one, and pictures released of you two out and about, kissing and what not. I've talked with Selena, she told me that whatever you two had was like two dates. And as far as I know you haven't really been with anyone else. I guess if I were you, I would be hesitant too." She said calmly.

"First of all, you know better than anyone that if Disney wants to keep something hidden they will, so maybe I was dating someone, you don't know. And second of all, yeah, you haven't Miley; you haven't had to watch me have the time of my life. Not like I haven't been living the dream, traveling all around the world, meeting amazing people and doing things that I never thought I would get to do. Neither have you had to deal with knowing, in the back of your mind, that your ex may or may not want to get back with you. She hates you today, but tomorrow she might want you back. It's always so open-ended with you. '7 Things' was the worst of it all. You know how hard it was to publicly face that? And I can't even take it as a hate song, you end it with the fact that you're still in love with this guy, that I'm presuming is me." Nick saw the tears welling up in Miley's eyes. He didn't realize he was talking so loud. He knew he'd made his point but he couldn't stop the next part from coming out. "I read your book too. Wow. Just 'Wow', Miley. I think this is just a phase, that I'm just another chapter in a book. Here, I'll even give you the title, 'Prince Charming 2.0'. I swear this is the first time in, years, probably, that you've actually been straightforward with me. Telling me exactly what you want. I think you even know what's gonna happen, you just want it so bad that you don't care what happens to other people along the way. Not even me." Nick wasn't sure what just happened. _Am I yelling? Why is she crying? Oh crap. _

Miley saw how his expression changed to horror. "Miley, I didn't mean it, I," He reached out to hug her but she just fought back. And hit his shoulder hard.

"THERE'S YOUR BRUISE, YOU JERK!" She yelled.

Miley stood there, tears running down her cheeks, hands at her sides.

She then turned around and headed straight for the door. She heard Nick following her. She turned around. "Guess what Nick," she said as she wiped the tears from her cheek. "You're not a chapter, you're the book."

Nick made no movement towards her; Miley walked off and headed out the door.

**Stick with me on this! The next and **_**final**_** chapter tomorrow!**


	5. Chapter 5

Miley walked down the stairs to her floor; at least she hoped it was her floor. Her room was always closer to the elevator rather than the stairs.

_She hates you today, but tomorrow she might want you back._

_I think this is just a phase, that I'm just another chapter in a book._

Miley cringed. Did he really think that'd she'd been so care free about how she felt. Sure, she hadn't always been 100% sure about wanting Nick back, and there was a time she never wanted to see him again. But that was just when the wounds were still fresh from their break up. But she always knew that she loved Nick and needed him in her life.

_I think you even know what's gonna happen, you just want it so bad that you don't care what happens to other people along the way. Not even me._

The way he said it, the way his eyes looked; this part hurt the most. When they fought his eyes usually looked mad, that was good. That meant he still cared. But this time, his eyes looked tired and worn. He didn't care anymore.

She always tried to look at for other's feelings. Especially his. That's why she was shocked that he called to do the duet. They had just recently reconnected at that point. He played it for her over the phone.

"_Nick, that was, wow, it's so beautiful. You wrote that?"_

"_Of course, I mean Joe and Kevin helped, but I wrote it a while back. It's probably my favorite song on the new album. But there is one thing I'd like to ask from you."_

"_Sure, Nick, anything."_

"_Sing it with me." He said as more of a command rather than a question._

_She was speechless._

"_Miley, it's about us. It's about our past. There's always been something missing from this song, and I know it's you."_

_Miley could feel herself choking up and even the tears about to fall. "Nick, I don't know."_

"_If Justin is holding you back, fine, I guess I'll live with that, I won't be happy about it. I know if the tables were turned I wouldn't want to be the one to hold you back. And I know you don't want to be with someone that does that. I know you, and you'd never back down from this kind of opportunity."_

_There was a long pause._

_What's holding you back, Miley? She thought to herself. Justin is definitely not holding you back. He'd probably be okay if you went bungee jumping as long as he got to come with. This is it; this would be the perfect way to reconnect with Nick._

"_Okay." She said._

_She could hear his smile through the phone._

She finally found her room, 1403. She realized she'd never gotten a key card from her mom. She started banging on the door.

_You're almost in the room, hold in your tears. _She kept chanting in her head.

But she couldn't, she pressed her forehead against the door, making pathetic bangs on the door with her fist still. She began sobbing.

_I guess I've really lost him for good._

She fell with her back against the door, sliding down to the ground, holding her head in her hands. She then fell over on the floor and cried, bawling her eyes out. The door opened and she felt the warm embrace of her mother around her. She reached her arms up to wrap around her mothers neck. They stood in the doorway as she hugged her mom tightly, drenching her mom's shoulder.

"It's okay, baby girl. We'll talk; it's going to be okay. Don't cry, I'm here, your fine." Her mom kept repeating to her.

Soon they went into the room. Miley sat on her bed, engulfed in her mother's arms. She cried for what seemed like forever. She went to dry her eyes, but they were already dried. Her mother looked down at her as she looked at her fingers.

"I guess you're all out." Her mother said, trying to get her to smile.

Miley just stared up at her and began sobbing again. No tears fell this time.

After an hour or so Miley's mom had gone to get her a drink from the soda machine down the hall. Miley didn't have to tell her what to get, her mom just knew. Miley looked at the clock. 3:40am.

She looked down at her fingers, spinning the rings around her fingers a few times. She then cracked her knuckles.

His voice came in her mind with such an abruption Miley jumped a little.

"_Don't do that." Nick said._

"_Why?" Miley responded, giggling at him._

Miley had gone back in her mind to two years ago when the tour had stopped in New Jersey. Instead of staying on the bus all day the whole Cyrus clan, at the time Miley's mom and Noah and Miley, had gone to the Jonas home. He was at his desk and she was on his bed. His mother had left his door open. As if they would do something.

_He looked up at her from across the room. "It's creepy and, disgusting. Besides that's how you get arthritis."_

_She stared at him pouting her lips. "Well, I guess because you said it's bad and since you're such an expert on medical type things-"_

"_You mean like a doctor?" He said smiling._

_She glared at him. "Look, boy, you're getting into some deep trouble right now."_

"_Good." He said._

_She smiled, not sure how to attack. Before she got a chance to decide between a tackle or throwing a pillow at him, he pounced on her. She fell down on his bed, with him on top of her. He started tickling her, she was laughing so hard that she felt tears down roll down her cheeks. _

_He then stopped abruptly and kissed her cheek._

"_What was that for?" She asked._

"_I hate to see you cry." He said, looking at her softly._

She was leaning into kiss him on the lips when she was brought back to reality.

"Well, I guess you still had some tears left in you." Her mother said, holding a Diet Coke. Miley had yet to say anything to her mother.

Miley reached up to her cheeks and felt the tears. She wasn't sad, she was happy thinking about the memory.

"Mom, I love him. I really do, I don't think I can be his friend. I want to be there for him, but I don't think I have it in me to just be the friend with a shoulder to cry on. I have to be something to him, or I have to be nothing." Miley said, looking at her mom.

Her mom sat down on the bed. "Baby, I told you that you had to face it, and I'm proud that you did. I didn't say it would have a happy ending." Miley looked down, her mother was right. "I'm sorry it turned out like this, I don't want to see you sad. But whatever happened, we have to believe it was for the best. God does have a plan for us, and maybe Nick isn't part of that plan."

"I hate this mom." Miley leaned forward and cuddled with her mom for the rest of the night.

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Nick had stayed on the roof for a while. Not even thinking. He'd just stared at the stars. Nothing was going through his mind with what just happened.

When Miley left, he just stood there. He went into a state of a zombie. He walked to the lounge chair that she had been sitting on. It still smelled like her. This didn't trigger any tears or thoughts. He just lay there looking at the stars.

"_And my favorite star of all, the second to the right."_

"_And straight off to Neverland."_

Nick got up and looked over the side of the building and down at the ground. Then he looked at his watch. 4:19am.

Crap. He was supposed to be getting up in twenty-five minutes. He headed to the door and down the stairs. He got down to level fourteen and just wanted to get to his room. He headed towards the elevator when a door opened. He tried to avoid eye contact so that if it were a fan they wouldn't go crazy.

The figure stood in front of him. He looked down at there feet and looked straight up. He wished it were a fan.

"This is actually good. I need to get my thing out and I'll leave you alone forever." Miley said before taking a deep breath. "I thought we were really reconnecting, on more than just a friend level. I felt like we were getting somewhere, back to where we were. But I guess I was wrong." She looked down at her feet and then at his eyes, but he couldn't hold eye contact, he looked towards the door she came out of. "I know I said that you were more than a chapter, that you were the book. I guess the book as reached the end."

Nick just stood there once again. Miley headed toward the elevator doors. She stepped in; her mom had held the doors for her.

Nick looked at where she was once standing. But he still felt unaffected.

He walked back towards the stairs and to his room. He went in and his mother was visibly distressed.

She started with "Nicholas Jerry Jonas…" As she continued to lecture him about how important it is that he not go off and then never return Nick just stared out the window, nodding when his mother asked rhetorical questions.

"Well, we don't have time to argue, just go get dressed so we can get going." She said. "Your clothes are on the bed."

Nick got dressed and stood by his brothers. Although Joe knew what Miley had told him, neither of Nick's brothers knew what had just happened.

Joe, Kevin and Nick got into their own car with a driver that the car company sent.

Kevin sat in the way back of the large GMC. Joe and Nick sat one row in front of him. Joe was looking over at Nick.

"You wanna tell us what happened?" Joe asked.

"Not really." Nick said.

Joe looked at Nick, then to Kevin who just shrugged and then back at Nick.

"Miley's been like a little sister to me. She told me how she feels. I don't know what happened and why you've turned into this brick wall but here's what I think." Joe started.

"Joe, please, not now." Nick said, brushing him off to the side.

"No, Nick, I'm going to say this. Miley is so beyond confused right now. I really think she's still in love with you. And she feels like you do to, but then you say these things that just through her off. Every song you've written since you broke up with her has been in some way about her. She's inspired you. You're the one that suggested she sing with you on 'Before the Storm'. And you're the one that wanted to visit her when she was lonely in Georgia. You've made such effort to go out of your way and be with her. What's stopping you?"

It all hit Nick at once. He felt his heart pounding. He was partially mad at his brother for sticking his nose in Nick's business. But he also realized what he felt for Miley. He would gladly be the couple that said they were best friends, but were so much more than that. He would be the boyfriend that talked to her about anything, with no restrictions. He would be more than happy to get on a plane every day just to visit her in Georgia and go jet skiing. He wanted to get in fights with her about stupid things like why he made an immature joke about farts. He didn't want to be so far away from her.

He looked over at Joe and calmly said, "Okay."

Miley was about to get on her private jet, but due to some back up in the air, her pilot hadn't landed yet from his flight. Her mother and her were waiting inside right outside where her jet was inside the airport. Miley hadn't touched her phone yet; it was an odd feeling. She just stared at the sky and watched the planes land and take off. Twenty minutes later Miley's mom tapped her on the shoulder; Miley jumped a little and looked up.

"You're like the living dead, geez." Her mom said. "We're getting on the plane now."

Miley gave a small smile and stood up and picked up her bags and headed out to the plane with her mom. They got in and sat down as the flight attendants put away their bags.

"Sweetie, where are your shoes?" Her mom asked, sitting across from her.

Miley looked down and realized she was missing her shoes. "I must've left them in the airport, I'll go grab them." Miley said in a monotone voice.

She walked across on the warm tarmac, it didn't hurt when she first crossed it, but now that she knew she wasn't wearing shoes it hurt. She walked into the airport and walked over to where she was sitting and saw two chocolate brown eyes looking at her, holding her shoes.

Miley stopped in her tracks.

Nick walked towards her. "This is just a chapter." He was now inches from her. "The New Beginning." He said smiling.

Miley should've been mad at him. _Why didn't you say this earlier in the hotel? What's changed in the past hour or two?_ She should've played hard to get. _What makes you think I'm ready to jump back into this?_ She wanted to smack him so hard. _Don't assume that I am just going to be here in shadows ready to be with you whenever you come around. _But she couldn't hold back. She needed him. She wanted him.

She jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her feet off the ground. Nick wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her around. He then stopped and put her on the ground as they kissed just like in the movies.

**So, here's some good news. I am going to continue on with story, so hold on, it'll get better with a few more bumps. ;) And here's the bad little bit of news. It won't be until Thursday cause I'm going to be super busy tomorrow. And then this weekend I probably won't get a chance to post it because I'll be out of town. But I will have my laptop to work on things, so hopefully I'll get some of that too.**

**I just wanna say something about the part where Miley's mom tells her about God's plan. I hope that didn't upset anyone or bug people. I just felt like that's what her mom would've said to comfort her. I'm not a big churchgoer, but I think faith is a great thing.**

**Hope you guys can't wait for the next chapter! The reviews you guys leave truly bring a smile to my face! Now I know what it's like when Miley sees all her fans. It's so amazing!**


	6. Chapter 6

Miley and Nick separated their lips. They just stared for a while. Nick thought he had lost her for good when she wasn't waiting there.

Nick had walked in seconds after they had left the waiting area. He was searching for her, soon realizing it was completely empty. He reached up and grabbed his hair, thinking he was going to go crazy. _I'm such an idiot._ Nick sat down in one of the airport seating and looked down at the floor. He noticed a pair of dirty, girly, white flip-flops. _How can someone leave without their shoes?_ He thought. He stared at them until he noticed something in the corner of the right shoe.

"_What are you doing to your shoe?" Nick said to Miley._

"_It's this thing I do with my sandals." Miley said._

"_You write on your sandals?" Nick said with a confused look._

"_I write the year on my sandals. Like '07' or '06"."_

"_Why?"_

_She just smiled at him. "Because, I like to write the summers they've lasted through. During the summer I tend to wear sandals everyday and I like to look and be like 'Wow, that last me this many years.' It reminds me of everything that happened, good and bad."_

_She handed him the sandal. It only had one year written on it. "'06" _

"_So these are newbies, huh?" He said with a smile. _

Nick picked up the sandals beneath him. It now had some new writing. "'06" had been worn off, you could only see it if you were looking for it. "'07" was also a bit worn, but easier to read and "'08" was still pretty fresh. But in big, fresh, black marker "'09" had been written.

_That was so long ago. _Nick thought to himself. _That was only a few weeks after our first date. And that was the first time I went to her house and saw her room. How could I have let her get away?_

He couldn't bear to just sit here in self-pity. _At least I have a little piece of her now._

Nick stood up and headed toward his terminal when he saw the brunette walk through the doors. She wasn't looking up, but down at the floor at her toes. But Nick knew right away, _it's her_.

And now Nick couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Neither could Miley.

They stood in the airport for a while before Miley broke the silence.

"I have to get back to my mom soon." She said.

"We should figure out what to do next." Nick said.

Miley looked at him confused.

"Where do we go from here?" He said.

"Well, you have to go to Canada. Georgia will still be there." Miley said, Nick's face lighting up.

"Your jet or mine?" Nick asked in a joking tone.

They decided they would go on Miley's plane because if she didn't go on it, they wouldn't need it and jets aren't refundable.

Nick waited outside as he called his mom to tell her the plan. She wasn't happy about it because there was a lot that could go wrong. But Nick told in more of an "I'm-not-asking-for-permission-I'm-just-telling-you-the-plan" tone. Nick also knew that his mom was never one to ruffle feathers, even though he was the best at ruffling hers.

"I'm only agreeing with this for two reasons. I like Miley, and it'll just take longer for me to come down there and get your butt to our gate." Nick's mom said through the phone.

"Thanks Mom, love ya." Now Nick really couldn't wipe the smile of his face.

Miley had already gotten back on the plane, still forgetting her sandals.

"Girl, how could you forget them again?" Miley's mom said.

"Small change to the plan. Were going to Canada." Miley said. She couldn't get away with the same "I'm-not-asking-for-permission-I'm-just-telling-you-the-plan" tone. Her mom was perfectly fine with ruffling feathers.

"Excuse me? And why do you want to go to Canada?" Her mother asked. Before Miley could answer, he walked on the jet.

"Hi, Mrs. Cyrus." Nick said in his gentleman tone.

"Hi, Nick." Miley's mom paused for a moment. Miley could her the gears turning in her mother's head. Miley didn't have to say a word and her mom was already on it, figuring out how to make it work. "You know as much as I love you both, this is really going to make things harder." Miley's mom said. She walked straight to a flight attendant and began getting things changed to Canada rather than Savannah.

"She's so mad at us." Miley whispered to Nick.

"I'll woo her with my charm." He said, smiling at Miley's mom.

"Hey," Miley said, grabbing his chin and pulling his eye's to her eyes. _Just like old times._ Nick thought, Miley knew how to assert herself with him. "You're still trying to win me over, buddy.

"I thought I already had you." He said as she walked to the loveseat in the back.

Some of the flight attendants stared as he walked past, following behind Miley. Most of them knew better than to leak anything to the press. Some of them were even bound by contract. Nick could hear their whispers, but he only cared about one person right now.

Nick sat next to her on the couch, their legs were touching, Miley reached over for his hand. She grasped it tight and then let her head rest upon his shoulder. Nick let go of her hand and reached up his arm so she could rest her head in her spot. She smiled, glad that he remembered.

They sat together for a while in silence, just enjoying each other's presence.

"Nick you need to know something." She said, grabbing his other hand and tracing out the lines on the inside of his palm with the tip of her finger.

"Yeah?" He said, smiling, her finger gave her a tingle that he hadn't had in a while.

"When you first called me back, those months ago to reconnect, it was hard." She'd stop tracing his hand and looked at him.

She'd remembered it all to well. She'd enjoyed a long day with Justin. Going around on her bike and just hanging out with him.

She'd been home for only 15 minutes when she'd received the unexpected call.

"Hey." Was all he had said.

"Um, hello?" She'd said with a negative tone.

"Is it a bad time?" Nick asked. _I should just hang up on you, boy._ Miley thought. But she couldn't resist.

"No, it's just, weird. You haven't called me in ages. Normally, I'm the one trying to get you to talk to me." She said.

"Yeah, I've been thinking. I hate not talking to you." _Nick, you promised you wouldn't make this awkward for her._ He thought to himself._ Just tell her you want to be friends again. Don't tell her that you'll settle for friends if she won't be more, but that you want to be just friends. Not that you'd rather have her as you're everything, but just as a friend._

Miley didn't respond, waiting for him to explain. He sighed. "You were always my best friend. And I know I was yours. We're missing out on so much of each other's life. I don't want to let this time pass us by and look back and think 'I wish I'd gotten to tell them about this.' Can't we just be friends? And talk about anything? Well, whatever you're comfortable with."

One of the first things Nick told Miley was that he was a "straight-shooter". She'd learned that when people said that, they usually weren't. Nick was no exception. She would usually have to yell at him to get him to say something. And even then it still wasn't good enough. But now was different. He was laying all of his cards on the table. But of course, Nick being the gentleman that he is, would know his boundaries. Miley thought.

"It's gonna be hard, Nick." Miley said, Nick's heart sunk a little. He'd hope she'd just jump right into it, like she always did. "Catching you up on my life. But I'm ready to try to be friends." She added. He smiled.

"I know I said that I was ready then, but I don't know that I was. I think I was afraid that if I said no, I'd never get another chance. But whenever you would call or text me, my heart hurt a little. Every bad fight we ever had came flooding back. Some good memories were restored, but it was bittersweet." Miley looked down at his hands again, now intertwining her hand with his. She looked back up at him. "And it even hurts a little know." She saw his face drop. "But now, the good out weighs the bad. You were my first everything. And now here we are again, we still have plenty more firsts to go." She said smiling. He just smiled back at her and kissed her forehead, reassuring her that he was there. Miley hated kissing her boyfriend on the lips in front of her mom, or anyone; it was just awkward for the most part. She loved kissing her boyfriend; she just didn't think everyone needed to see that they were intimate.

"I know. I wasn't even sure what I was doing when I called you. I just wanted to tell you so much. I just couldn't stand not letting you know when something reminded me of one of our inside jokes. And I wondered if you ever had those experiences too." Nick said.

"Let's make a deal." Miley sat up and out from under his arm and stuck out her right hand to shake with him. "No matter what, if one of us asks the other about something, we answer as honestly as we can. And if we see something that reminds us of the other we text each other immediately. Deal?" She said, staring him straight in the eye.

"Deal." He said, right before spitting in his hand and shaking hers.

"Nick! Only boys do that!" She said pulling her hand back looking for a paper towel. "Girls have some dignity!" She then wiped her hand on his shirt.

"Oh, am I a tissue now?" He said as he reached out and started tickling her. Her obnoxious laugh rang out through the jet; he couldn't help but laugh too. It was contagious.

"Hey you two." They heard Miley's mother's voice above the rest of the noise. "If I have to come back there to separate you two, we're headed straight back for Georgia."

Nick and Miley quickly stopped and sat up on the couch. They resumed the position they had been in before. They sat on the couch for the rest of flight talking about whatever came up. It was the best few hours either of them had had in a long time.

**It's a little short, but I was having **_**major**_** writer's block with this bad boy. But I think I figured something out that should work. Sorry it took me so long to get this out though. I'm gonna start another story soon, so this might be a little bit slower. I'm also taking a friend's advice and gonna wait a little bit longer to post these so I can read over and revise more.**

**OH! Big news, I got to go to JB concert! My friend got some last minute tickets and it was amazing! I'll post a link on my profile to an album of all my pictures soon.**

**Now I can't wait for Miley's! (Already got my tickets for that one!)**


	7. Chapter 7

When they landed in Canada, Nick called his mom to figure out where they were and how they were going to meet up. They were apparently staying at the hotel across from the studio where the award show was going to be. Nick told her he'd be there in 45 minutes, just in time for rehearsals. He said he'd go to the hotel room first to change and then head over. Nick and Miley avoided any kind of public display of affection in the airport, in case anyone saw them. She put up her hood and sunglasses and Nick found a baseball cap on the plane and put on sunglasses. No one noticed them and they got into their own car while Miley's mom and her assistant got into a different car. Miley talked with her mom and they decided that Miley could spend the rest of the day with Nick.

They cuddled in the back of the car. Miley snuck a few cell phone pictures of him and changed one of them to her background. She wasn't really happy with it because the picture didn't make her feel anything. They were great pictures and they were of the boy she loved, but they didn't have any story to them. They were taken out of boredom and not on a date or out and about. But she would live with it.

They got to his hotel, which was in fact literally right across from the studio. He got an extra card key from the lobby and went up to the penthouse that Much Music had rented out for the Jonas Brothers.

When they got up to the room, Nick was surprised to see no one in the room. Normally he was always surrounded by random people. But it was just him and Miley. He looked around for a note or something from his mom.Nothing. He then looked for his bag, it was usually on the bed closest to the window, he went into the bedrooms and found his bag sitting on the bed closest to the window. He changed into another pair of jeans and white, v-neck shirt and put on his Converse. He checked his hair in the mirror before heading back out to Miley. She was staring out a giant window that made her look tiny. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She looked back and rested her head on his shoulder.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked.

"How everyone will react when they see us together." She responded with in a monotone.

"Joe and Kev are probably the only ones that will make a big deal out of it." Nick said before he kissed her cheek. "But we need to go."

Miley grabbed his hand as she turned around with him and headed for the lobby. They both put their disguises back on and walked out the door without getting noticed. They found the back of the stage and were let in quickly. They were led to his dressing room where he assumed his family would be. He was right. When he opened the door Joe and Kevin rushed over and immediately hugged him and then Miley.

"Congrats buddy, you finally got around to it!" Kevin said.

Miley smiled at them. They really felt like her brothers. She got jealous that Demi got to tour with them, rather than just going back with Miley on her tour in September. She missed them all so bad, even if one of them had been her ex.

"Thanks you guys. I hope you two don't mind that I'll be tagging along all day." Miley said smiling at them, she couldn't help but smile when she looked at Kevin. He reminded her of a dog, always happy to be with you and so enthusiastic.

"Heck no! It'll just be like old times." Joe said right before Big Rob came back and told them that they need to go to the stage and practice.

Miley stood off to the side awkwardly with Denise and Papa Jonas. She knew Denise wasn't too happy with Miley, messing up their schedule.

Miley watched as the boys played their single "Paranoid", Nick, as usual, stealing the show, and Joe trying to get the attention back on him. But maybe she was a little biased.

Miley felt her jean pocket vibrate, she grabbed her phone and saw it was a text from her mom.

flight is at 10 - need to be at the hotel at 8 it was the latest i could get call me for a ride.

_Just in time to miss the award show._

Nick got off and handed off his guitar to a guy and ignored the towel that was handed to him. He went straight to Miley and hugged.

"That was great, Nicky." She said enjoying the hug. They separated and Miley grabbed onto his arm.

"Kev-, that was such a good song, play it again." Joe said looking over at Kevin in a higher pitched tone with the love-filled eyes, mocking Miley.

Miley punched Joe in the arm, he reminded her of the older brother that would annoy the heck out of you, but when you really needed him, cam through. Trace was a lot like that, but she saw him even less than she saw the Jonas Brothers.

"Oh, ow, Miley, have you been working out?" He said in his teasing voice.

"Boys, we gotta go get you guys ready." Big Rob said.

Miley grasped onto Nick's hand as he followed behind his brothers to their dressing room.

Once they were in their dressing room they all sat in there designated chairs. But before Nick sat down he grabbed an extra chair that was off to the side and pulled alongside his for Miley.

Joe, still looking for any opportunity to tease Nick and Miley, commented, "What a gentleman, Nicky."

"He's better than you, boy." Miley said smiling at him with a smug look, sitting in her chair.

"Oh, she got you Joe." Kevin said, while simultaneously texting on his Blackberry, and Nick just smiled and gave Miley a look of true amazement. No one got Joe very well. He would just make so many random remarks, no one was ever really prepared with a comeback.

While Nick was getting his hair fixed up and getting his look together, he couldn't take his eyes off Miley. People would come up and talk to Miley, Nick would get jealous, but it would fade when he would see Miley glancing over at him. He loved that he was the center of her world, and the she was the center of his. Everything was falling back into place.

Finally when everything had been done with the outfits and hair they were free to do whatever. Joe, Miley, and Nick started walking around the building while Kevin stayed in the dressing room texting.

"Danielle?" Miley asked Nick, as she wrapped both hands around his one lonely hand.

"Yeah, it's getting pretty serious between them." Nick commented. Joe gave Nick a look and then quickly changed the subject.

"So, Miley, how's that movie going?" Joe asked.

She knew they didn't want to talk about that too much, she wasn't sure why though. "Good, don't want to give too much away, I want to see you boys at the premiere." She said glaring down Joe.

"Of course, anything for the lil' sis we never had." He paused for a moment. "Why do you always call us boys? I think we're mature enough to be called guys." He said in his macho tone.

"For the same reason why you call me lil' sis." Miley said.

"I think she'd be jealous of our supreme maturity levels if she had to start calling us guys." Nick added, joining back in on the conversation.

"HA! And what three boys decided it would be fun to see who could go the longest without a shower back on tour?" Miley said looking at Nick.

"She has a point." Joe said, shrugging.

They made their way up some stairs they had found and got to the roof eventually. Joe propped the door open with a rock so they could get back in. They went over to the edge and looked down at the streets filled with fans waiting to get in.

Nick wrapped his arm around Miley's shoulder and she cuddled up next to him as they then started focusing on the skyline.

Joe could almost hear their thoughts; "Get out of here, Joe! Go text your girlfriend! Anything! Get out of here! We want our alone time."

"I'm gonna head back down, remember we gotta be backstage in like 45 minutes." Joe said before taking his exit.

"Oh, Joe's being the responsible one, keeping track of time, I never thought I'd see the day." Miley said, getting in one last joke.

Nick just nodded as they then waited for the sound of the roof door opening and then the bang on the rock. When they heard it, Miley turned up to Nick and immediately went in for a kiss. Nick was a little shocked, normally he was the one to make the first move for the kiss. They continued to kiss for what seemed like forever and Miley pulled away.

"I've been wanting to do that all day." Miley said, her hands had move up to his face and she was cradling his head in her hands.

"My lips have been dying." Nick said as he gave her one more kiss.

As they waited in silence for the other to say something, Miley fought with her self in her head.

_Tell him!_

_No! It will ruin his day if I tell him I have to leave right as he's about to go on! Don't even think about._

_Well it's either now or right before he goes on, if you tell him now, at least he'll have time to recover._

_But, it will ruin this whole beautiful day._

_You're gonna leave eventually._

_But it'll ruin the mood now. No, I'll just send him a text as I'm leaving, and tell Denise to just say she doesn't know where I went. Then he'll just think I'm hiding and he'll do great._

Miley cut her self off before she could argue back. She then shook her head, _I need help._

Nick just chuckled. "What's that about?"

"Nothing, just thought I felt an itch."

"Well, I know what I'm itching for." Nick said as he leaned in for a kiss.

Before he got to her lips Miley bursted out laughing. She let go of his face and grabbed her stomach as she continued to laugh.

"That was one of... the cheesiest things... to ever... come out of your mouth, Nicholas Jerry." Miley said in between laughs. She reached up and grabbed onto the edge of the building, catching her breath as her laughs faded away.

"Psch, whatever. It was supposed to be cheesy." Nick said, acting like he was real cool.

"Oh don't pull a Joe on me. I like your dorky, cheesy, hopelessly romantic self." Miley moved over and wrapped her arms around his neck. Nick kept his arms at his side.

"Well then why did you laugh?"

"I don't know, I guess, I just haven't been around your type lately." Miley looked off to the side.

Nick just stared at her, waiting for her to add more.

"Well, Justin was, cheesy, but in a different way, his actions were cheesy, and what he said was..." Miley then looked up and realized that what she was saying. _You're cheesy, but only when you speak. So how about shutting your yapper every once in a while? _"What he said was always really cliche in a bad way. Like I'd heard it before, in a movie or a book. But with you, sometimes it's cheesy, and sometimes it's so insanely original that I wish I had thought of it first." Miley added, hoping she'd made up for what she'd said.

Nick's face didn't change.

"Are okay?" Miley said moving so that she was staring into her eyes.

He could see he was really freaking her out by not talking. _This could be fun._

"Hello? Nickkkkky? Come back to me!" She said before realizing what was happening. _Oh, so we're playing this game, huh? I know how to win at this one._ She then started to do her infamous, bottom-lip pout with a hint of puppy dog eyes.

Nick held out for as long as he could. "Now you know I can't resist that." He moved his arms around her waist and picked her up and swung her around. All he could see was the light in her eyes and all he could hear was the sweet melody of her giggle. He then put her down as they entered into a passionate kiss that lead to a few more minutes of kissing.

Only a few minutes later they were broken from their trance when they heard a camera sound in the distance. The same thought ran through their minds. _Crap._

They looked over quickly and were relieved when they saw it was only Joe, butting in as usual.

"It was too adorable to pass up." Joe said bringing his iPhone down so he could review the picture.

Miley dropped her arms and ran over to Joe to look at the picture. It was beautiful. It wasn't the best quality, but you could see the beautiful Canadian skyline along with Nick and Miley lip-locked next to the the setting sun.

Miley smiled and bit her bottom lip. "If this whole singing career goes downhill, Joe, you should take up photography." Miley said looking at him teasingly. She then stole the phone from out of his hands and quickly emailed it to her self.

"Why'd you come up her anyway?" Nick asked Joe, now mad at him for ruining their moment.

"Turns out we need to be down their now. I just got my times confused." Joe said, keeping his eye on his baby; his phone.

"Joe! I was just beginning to think you could be responsible with time. I guess I'm going to keep have to calling you boys." Miley said smiling, handing back his phone.

Joe scrunched his face at Miley as he then headed to the door.

Miley waited as Nick came to her said and took her hand. They headed down behind Joe in silence.

Once they got down to the stage, Joe handed his phone to his mom and just as Nick was going to do the same Miley intercepted the phone.

"I'll hold on to it, if you don't mind." Miley said.

Nick didn't have time to argue and knew she wasn't going to find anything that would make her mad so he let it go and went to get his earpiece and set up.

Miley moved a mile a minute, realizing that it was now 7:45. First she texted her mom, letting her know she was ready to go. Then she quickly checked her email for the picture she'd sent herself from Joe's phone and sent it to Nick's phone. Then when it got to Nick's phone she saved it and made it his background. It was all to perfect. She then handed the phone to Denise and told her not to let Nick know that she had to go and to keep the phone away from him. Surprisingly Denise didn't have a big problem with this. Miley thought she wouldn't want to lie to her son and blah blah blah. But she must've understood that Nick would've been to distracted if she had left and let him know.

Miley got a text from her mom saying that the car was at the studio and it would take her straight to the airport. Miley headed down to the garage and found the car easily. She then sent out on last text for the night.

nick, i had to go. i wish i could've been there, but i know you did great. call me when your done. don't even worry about the time. it won't be too late in georgia. ;) i love you.

She hit send and felt her eyes welling up. _It's not goodbye, it's see you later._ She told her self over and over again.

She then went to the settings on her phone and changed her background as well.

She met up with her mom at the airport roundabout and was rushed to the jet.

As she watched the plane taxi and then take off, she couldn't help but fall asleep, staring at her phone.


	8. Chapter 8

Nick could hardly concentrate for their first performance of the night, "Burnin' Up". He waited with his brothers, guitar in hand, patiently. Then he got his cue and went out and did his best. While all the other girls were screaming, all he could imagine was Miley screaming for him backstage. When he got to go backstage again he asked his mom where Miley was.

"I'm not sure." His mom said. Nick started to look around for Miley but his mom quickly grabbed his arm. "Honey, not now, you have to go back out soon, you're the host."

Nick looked at her and gave another quick glance around. Then he walked away and waited with his brothers for their next time to go on.

Nick knew that the show was only two hours, with commercials, but it felt like forever. He just wanted to be with her. He didn't even need to hold her hand or have his arm around her. He just wanted to be near her. She made him feel like a different, a better person, he was more open and willing to try anything.

After introducing other people and other random little host tidbits, he finally went to perform "Paranoid". It went great, as usual, but still very distracted. Then when he was done he went back off stage, hoping she would've at least come then to congratulate him on a great performance, but she hadn't.

Then when it seemed like forever and a half, the show was done, finally. He had after parties that he was welcome to go to, but even if he didn't have to go back to tour, he would've turned them down. He grabbed a towel, he was feeling pretty sweaty, dried his face off and rushed back to his dressing room. His mom handed him his phone and he tucked it away in his back pocket.

As he was walking down the hall he saw some girls every now and then that were quietly freaking out. _I love you guys, but I'll be taking pictures in like two minutes, please don't ask me right now._ Nick was hoping his prayers would be answered, but right before he was about to turn the corner, a girl, who looked about Nick's age, approached him.

"Umm, can me and my friend get a photo with you?" She asked sheepishly.

Nick wanted to say no and head straight for Miley, but he knew she wouldn't do that for him, they both knew fans came first. Nick smiled, "Of course."

He stood in between the two girls and put his arms on their shoulders, smiled, and then headed straight for the hallway. He thought he saw some girls motion for their turn to take a picture but he was gone before they could catch up with him.

As he was less than 30 feet from his dressing room, he could see the door, a thought flashed through his mind all to quick.

_I wonder how she's going to get home to Georgia. She should probably leave soon, I mean tomorrow is Monday, which means she'll be filming. You'd think her mom would be a bit more on top of it with getting her back there._

Then it hit in like a big, fat, pregnant hippopotamus that had a bit too much to eat. _She didn't, she would've wanted to say goodbye._

Nick sprinted the last few feet to his dressing room and opened the door. It was empty. He stood there, completely still, waiting, waiting for anything. _Maybe if I stare long enough she'll just reappear._

When he finally felt his entire heart rip in half, he walked into his dressing room and slammed the door. He walked around his dressing room furiously. _Why wouldn't she say goodbye? She knows this is going to be hard, why would she just leave? _He went over to a clothes hanger, filled with clothes from earlier, and punched them.

Nick stopped in his tracks, clenching his fists tight, he could feel his face morphing into a grimace. Then it all disappeared. He heard her voice in his head.

_"You know me. Would I do this just to make you mad. Use your brain, boy."_

He relaxed, took a deep breath and went over to the couch and sat down. He felt his phone buzz. Then he smiled, there was only one person in the world that he could think of that would be texting him.

He pulled out his phone and saw that it was her, Miley. He saw that it was sent from earlier, about the time he went on stage. Normally he hated it when his phone would keep bugging him about a message he got and hadn't read yet, but now he was grateful for it. He read the message.

nick, i had to go. i wish i could've been there, but i know you did great. call me when your done. don't even worry about the time. it won't be too late in georgia. ;) i love you.

Nick smiled and went to options and hit "Call". It rang for only one time before it went straight to voicemail. _Guess she hasn't landed yet._ He listened to the automated voice message and waited for the beep.

Beep.

"Uh, hey, I guess it isn't too late, but too early. I know you had to go, I wish you could've been here to watch me. Me and Joe and Kev have to go take pictures with fans, so I don't know if you'll be able to get a hold of me for like the next hour, but just call me anyway. I just wanna know you got home safe. Alright, bye."

Nick hung up and put his phone on his knee, practically waiting for it to ring. He sat there patiently. _She isn't going to call yet. _He thought to himself.

Then like she was in his head, he heard her voice again. _Don't tell me you're just gonna sit here and wait for me, go, go be with your fans._

Nick chuckled, slid his phone in his back pocket and walked out of the dressing room.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miley had passed out on the plane and when her mom tried to wake her up, she didn't really. Her body responded but her mind wasn't fully awake. She wasn't dreaming, she was just in a happy bliss of unconsciousness. She walked with her mom and her mom's personal assistant to the car. She knew she was back in Georgia by the sticky humidity that surrounded her on the way to the car.

She fell asleep in the back of the car, still cuddling with her phone.

She heard voices drift in and out of her ear.

"That girl never lets go of that phone. I swear, if I hadn't given birth to her, I would think she was born with it attached to her hand."

Miley recognized her mom's voice and smiled. She was slowly coming to, but was still not fully there.

When they got to their rental house, her mom got her to move again and Miley was now more aware of her surroundings and what she was doing. She just walked to her room, put on her BeePosh pajamas, and snuggled in her bed.

Her mom came in a few minutes later, but Miley had started drifting back into her unconsciousness. Her mom wrapped the blanket around her tighter and reached for Miley's phone. As she started to slip it out of her hand Miley started to come back.

"No, I, I have to..." Miley couldn't get out what she wanted to say. _I have to wait for Nick to call. He's probably mad about me leaving, I have to talk to him. _Miley hadn't even realized she hadn't turned her phone back on after getting off the plane.

But Miley's mom just hushed her, "Hunny, go to sleep." She said as she pulled the phone out of her grasp and put it on the bedside table. "Goodnight" her mom said before kissing her on the forehead.

Miley slept for what only seemed like a few seconds. When she awoke she rolled over to get her phone, but it wasn't there. She shot up from her sleeping position and began freaking out before realizing it was back in her hand.

That was when she realized she hadn't turned it back on. She quickly held down the power button and waited for it to load. She had a million missed texts, as usual, and one missed call with voicemail.

She went to the voicemail and heard the sweet sound of his voice.

_"Uh, hey, I guess it isn't too late, but too early. I know you had to go, I wish you could've been here to watch me. Me and Joe and Kev have to go take pictures with fans, so I don't know if you'll be able to get a hold of me for like the next hour, but just call me anyway. I just wanna know you got home safe. Alright, bye."_

She couldn't stand it, she'd missed him. Hopefully he wasn't worried about her.

She looked at the time, 6:37 a.m., _why am I up so early? Normally it takes a forklift to get me out of bed before 8._

Miley tried to figure out where he might be, she didn't want to wake him. She grabbed her laptop and went online and saw that they were going to Oklahoma next. _Since they went to Canada they're probably taking a plane. So, I guess I can call him._ Miley called him, not even realizing that Georgia was about two hours ahead of Oklahoma.

She heard it ring for a while. Then a click and a voice. "Hello?"

"Nick?" she asked sheepishly.

"No, it's Joe. Nick's, somewhere. Probably sleeping." Joe said, with his deep, groggy voice.

"Oh, oh my gosh, I totally didn't think about what time that would make it for you guys. Look I'll call back, just let him know I called." Miley said quickly. She waited for any kind of acknowledgement, and when she heard him mumble something she quickly hung up. _Better let him sleep rather than talk to me._

Miley found her phone charger and plugged it in. It had gone a long time without charging.

She walked over to her dresser and put on a pair of dark-wash capris and a blue, plaid baby-doll shirt.

She grabbed her phone again and the charger too, it would need more charging. She waited in the living room for her mom and others to get ready to go to the set.

She stared at her phone as she waited for everyone to get up. She had turned on the TV and put it on MTV, which was playing music videos for the next two hours. She didn't notice any of it.

She let her phone sit quietly on her knee. _Come on, come on, come on._ Miley picked up her phone and started sorting through texts. Mandy, Liam, Carly, Liam, Demi, Taylor, Liam, Carly. She read through some of the texts, but that was it. She didn't comprehend what any of them said. If someone had asked her what she just read, she wouldn't have been able to tell you. _I just wanna fast forward to when he calls me._ She then found an outlet behind the couch and plugged in her charger and plugged it in her phone. She watched the battery icon flash new bars, showing that it was charging.

The next hour and a half passed by slowly. Everyone got ready around her, leaving her alone.

She hopped in the car with her mom to the set. She had a feeling she wouldn't be much fun on set today. She went straight to hair and make-up.

She'd grown so close to everyone on set that it was hard to be mopey. She didn't want to be happy, but she just couldn't help it.

For the next hour, she hung out in the hair and make-up trailer, chatting, singing, dancing, being goofy. Liam seemed to be pretty attached to her. She'd noticed that recently; she'd be going out to dinner with her mom and he'd invite himself along too. She didn't mind, he wasn't annoying, and he wasn't that bad to look at either.

"So what'd you do this weekend, Miley? Oh that's right, it's all over Twitter and YouTube." he said, with a dry tone.

She gave him a weird look, "Yeah, I guess you know then."

"Yeah, and I guess your phone is broken too because you haven't replied to any of my texts."

Miley didn't respond, _whatever crawled up his butt, he could get out by himself_. Miley thought about what she had just said to herself. _Ew, like I'd wanna help him?_ Everyone started leaving the trailer to do their scenes. The set wasn't ready yet so Miley went to her trailer where her mom was. She checked her phone on the way over to make sure he hadn't called. _Nope_.

Before Miley had strayed to far from the hair and make-up trailer when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Miley spun around.

It was Liam.

"Uh, hi." Miley said awkwardly.

"Can we talk?" He said in a very serious tone.

"Of course!" Miley said, trying to keep it up beat.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to do all this stuff this weekend? I was kind of hoping to hang out."

Miley did remember that he had mentioned something about wanting to hang out. "Yeah, but, me and Nick had been talking about doing this for a while and it just kind of worked out."

Liam just stared at her, like she'd just slapped him or something. "I don't think I need to apologize for anything. I didn't do anything wrong."

Liam looked down, "I'm sorry. I just, I really wanted to talk to you about something."

"Well I'm here now." Miley said. What he said next she was not expecting.

Liam was still looking down. "Okay, so, I haven't known you long, but we've been getting to be really good friends really well." He nervously reached back with his arm and started scratching the back of his neck. "And I was just wondering if we could go on a date?" He looked up at her.

_Oh, boy._


	9. Chapter 9

_Crap, crap, crap._

"Liam, I, I don't know, I-" Miley didn't know how to respond to his question. She couldn't date him. Even if she wasn't working on things with Nick, she still wouldn't. She'd dated co-stars before and it usually didn't work out. Maybe after they wrapped shooting, but that wasn't for a while. She couldn't hold him off for that long.

"I don't need an answer now, just hopefully soon." Liam added.

"It's not that, it's just," Miley didn't want to give him some phony excuse. So she told him the truth. "I'm seeing someone else." Miley could see his heart break through his eyes.

"Oh, I thought you and Justin were over, my bad." Liam said, trying to laugh it off. His accent always came through in his laugh.

Miley chuckled, "It's not Justin." Miley wanted to leave it there but she saw that Liam wanted to know who exactly was getting in his way. "It's someone else." She didn't want a lot of people to know yet. Let them figure it out on their own.

It took Liam a second to realize that he wasn't going to get a full explanation.

"Okay, well, do you want me to walk you to your trailer?" He said in his sweetest tone.

_Look buddy, don't make this harder than it has to be._

"No, no, that's okay, it's like two feet from here and besides yours is like on the other side of the lot. Don't worry about it. But I'll see you in a bit." Miley smiled and headed off towards her trailer.

"Alright, bye." He added quickly.

"See you in a bit." She said, she put her hand in her pocket and instantly felt her phone vibrate and soon heard her ring tone. She pulled it out quick as lightening, "Hello?"

"Hey," His smooth voice put her heart at ease, "I finally got you."

She couldn't breathe for a moment, then she shoved the words out. "Yeah, I was thinking this was going to be a lot harder than we thought if we couldn't even get a hold of each other." It was silent for a second. "So what are you doing today?"

"Well you know, back on tour so we're on the jet right now. I don't usually use these phones but it was the only one I could use."

"You're such a dork. Why don't you like those phones?"

"I just think about other people that have used it and, I don't know, it just creeps me out sometimes."

Miley giggled, "Aren't you on a private jet?"

"Yeah, but other people that can afford it use it too."

"But chances are they aren't too dirty." She said in a smart tone.

"Yeah, but what if they have a cold, sneeze on their hand and then touch the phone?"

She was silent, "You're a dork."

"I think you already said that. Besides, if I'm a dork, then, well, I'm not sure what that makes you."

She just smiled and listened to him breathing.

"What about you, what are you doing today? Working on your movie?" He asked.

"Yeah, just waiting for the set to get ready. It's weird; I've never been so relaxed during a shoot. With Hannah episodes, it's always on and moving and getting me changed and onto the next scene. And then when I'm done with that it's going to a photo shoot or the studio, but here, it's different. I'm not going anywhere fast."

"That must be nice. I don't know if I could do that. I mean, for the past few years, we've just always been moving and never really stopping. I think it'd be weird to just sit around." Miley felt extremely unproductive when she thought about all the stuff Nick and his brothers did.

"Well Camp Rock 2 is coming up, so that must be a little bit slowed down, no tour."

"Yeah, I guess, but I'm sure we'll find some way to do more stuff then we need to."

Miley giggled, "You could come to a couple of my shows. We're starting out up north, near Canada." She waited for his response.

"That's a possibility." She knew when he was talking serious.

"Really? You think we could do something like that?"

"You came to our opening night, why not come to your opening night. I'll have to see how that will work with Camp Rock, but maybe."

She got a huge smile on her face. She couldn't wipe it off. "Okay, I'll talk to, whoever I talk to about tour and special guests."

It was silent for a minute, Miley got to her trailer. She went to the back of it and leaned against it.

She didn't need to say anything and he knew. "What's wrong, Miley? Normally I can't get you to shut up."

"Something really weird happened right before you called and I'm not sure you really want to hear it." She didn't want to hide it, but she knew she definitely didn't want to hurt him.

"Miley, tell me."

She was silent.

"Miley, don't hide this from me, tell me."

She gave a loud exhale of breath, "Liam, you know, my love interest in the movie," 'love interest' probably wasn't the best choice for this conversation, "he came up to me and asked me out."

Nick chuckled. "What is so dang funny, boy?" Miley said quickly.

"Miley, you know how many girls tell me they love me." Before she could give him crap about it, he continued. "I know this isn't exactly the same, but I don't care, if you don't care. If you don't let it get to you, it won't get to me. I trust you, and you should trust me."

"You're like a duck." She blurted out.

"Should I even ask?"

She giggled, "Stuff just rolls off you. You couldn't be bothered about it."

"Thanks? I mean, quack." He said in the most serious tone. Miley started cracking up, she was laughing so hard that it probably looked like she was having a seizure.

Nick was silent before he realized what was happening. "I'm guessing that right now your laughing, rolling around, and it's only silent because you can't breathe." He said like he was right there watching.

Miley was nodding in agreement even though he couldn't see her. She finally cooled down a little bit, but was still laughing.

"I didn't think it was that funny." Nick said, she could hear his smile.

"It was just the way you said quack. It was so serious. And then I imagined you as a duck, with the curly hair and the eyes."

She heard him start laughing, "That is pretty funny, but I'd need a Miley duck." He said.

"I suppose I'd at least try to be a duck for a day."

Before he could say anything else, Miley heard the sound of the captain saying they were about to land and they would need to turn off electronics.

He sighed. "I guess I better go."

Miley pouted, "Don't do that pout, you know I can't say no to it." He said.

"How did you know I was doing that Nick?"

"I know you Miley, you pout whenever you hear stuff you don't like. Even if it's serious stuff."

"Does it bug you or something?"

"No, it makes me smile, well not that your sad, well it's just that it reminds me-" Nick stopped abruptly. "I'll explain it some other time. But I really gotta go. The flight attendant is staring me down."

"Doesn't she know who you are? Oh my gosh." She said in a sarcastic tone.

"It's a guy, so it's kind of freaking me out."

Miley giggled.

"I love you."

Miley felt tears coming up, "I love you, too, text me when you land, okay?" Tears streamed down her cheek as her voice became noticeably shaky

"Don't cry I'll be fine, Miley." He said chuckling a little.

"Just do it okay? I love you."

He was silent. "I love you too."

Miley took the phone away from her ear and watched as the screen flashed _Call Ended_.

"Uh, hey." Miley looked up and saw Liam.

"Oh, hey, what's up?" She asked, wiping her tears away quickly.

"I just, I forgot to tell you me and Carly and a bunch of us were gonna go to dinner tonight and I was just inviting you." He was silent for a second. "So was that your boyfriend?"

She looked at the phone and then at him, "Oh yeah," She looked at him, "Why?"

"It's Nick isn't it?" He said in a very serious tone.

She just stared at him.

"I heard you say Nick." He stared back at her. "Why are you back with him. I thought it was over."

"There's more to it than that." She said sheepishly.

"Like what? You're sixteen, you shouldn't already have a serious on-again off-again relationship, what are you doing?"

"Liam I'm sorry," _Wait, why are you apologizing?_ She heard Nick's voice in her head. She started to walk away.

"Miley," He grabbed her arm.

"Don't touch me," She looked up at him. "Please."

He let go, still staring at her intensely. "Whatever."

He walked away, with an extra stomp in his step.

Miley started to walk to her trailer but couldn't. She sat behind an empty trailer and held onto her phone, waiting for his text, crying again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Oops, last time I updated this one was October. Sorry. I have no excuse. I just got lazy. I'm sorry. But I've been feeling a lot of love for Niley lately and it's almost summertime. I started writing these and falling more in love with Niley in the summer so hopefully I'll really get back into these.**

Miley had sat for a while waiting for Nick's text. She'd never felt so terrible before. Liam's anger got to her so bad, but then she had a thought, _why?_ She'd promised her self she wouldn't let tabloids get to her anymore. Who was Liam to tell her who she should and shouldn't date. He'd only known her for a little while. Hell, he hardly even knew her at all. He wasn't exactly a tabloid but he knew even less about her than the gossip columnists did.

Her tears started to stop, but she still desperately waited for Nick's text. _How am I gonna explain this to him? If he wasn't freaking before, he will now. _She put herself together and walked to her trailer. When she got there was no one. Normally Miley's mom or sister was there but it was so nice here in Georgia, it was hard to just sit in the trailer. So Miley was left with her own thoughts.

She went to the table and opened the blinds; she had a view of the ocean. As she watched the waves crash onto the sand she saw a figure approach the shore. It was Liam. He sat on the sand and just stared at the horizon, left to his thoughts too. Miley did feel bad for yelling at him, and although it may have been out of line for him to say that, he obviously was just trying to do right. He was a gentleman and Miley knew that. He opened the door for her, addressed superiors by "ma'am" and "sir", and always respected people, except for now. But why?

Miley hadn't realized she'd been watching him this entire time. She only realized she had been when he turned around and saw her in the window watching him. She quickly turned her head and felt her cheeks burning. She looked again to see if he was still looking but he had moved. He was headed for her trailer.

_Shit shit shit._

Miley waited to see if he was headed for her or maybe to the food table. Then she heard a knock on the door. She knew she had to deal with this. They were doing a scene soon and had to get through this and get back to a clean slate. Then she heard the knock on the door. She slowly got up and opened the trailer door.

"Hey."

* * *

All Nick could think about when the plane was landing was texting Miley. The second he felt the tires hit the ground he reached his hand in his jacket pocket and turned on his phone. He didn't pull it out yet because he knew his mother would throw a fit if she saw it. But once the pilot came on and said it was safe to get up and exit the plane Nick whipped out his phone and immediately wrote Miley a text.

"hey, just landed, give me a call when you're free."

He was confident that Miley would respond in a matter of seconds so he tucked away his phone again and exited the plane and headed to the car.

Fifteen minutes had passed before he realized she hadn't answered, the car was already almost to the venue. He pulled out his phone and there were no new messages. _Maybe she's in the middle of a scene. I think she said something about doing a scene soon, right? _He thought to himself, making excuses for why she wasn't answering.

_Why am I freaking out? I told her that I trusted her, why is it getting to me this badly?_

_Maybe because she's never taken this long to text you back._ Nick's thoughts started arguing with themselves.

_Yeah, but now she's doing her first major film where she's the star, I'm sure she just wants to do a good job and make a professional impression on the crew._

_Or maybe she just doesn't want to text you._

Nick stopped his thoughts and turned to Joe. "So, wanna try any new flips tonight?"

"Uh, no thanks." Joe looked at Nick oddly, "Where did that come from?"

"I just, I don't know. It's nothing."

"Nick, just tell me, no point in hiding it. I'm your brother and band mate, eventually I'll hear about it."

Nick sighed, "Miley begged me to text her once we landed and I texted her immediately. I wasn't expecting more than a one-syllable response, but I haven't gotten anything. I don't know if I'm just being clingy or justified in being concerned."

"I guess that is weird that she hasn't texted you because she's so attached to her phone, but I mean, maybe she's just in the middle of a scene." Joe responded with.

"That's what I was thinking, but when she's on _Hannah_ she still gets back to me in a few minutes. It's been almost 20 minutes since I texted her."

"Well, this is kind of different that _Hannah_. I mean it's a more serious, it's a drama and she's making first impressions right now so maybe she just doesn't want to be pegged as a girl glued to her phone."

"Yeah." Nick didn't want to keep talking about it, he just wanted to forget about it and not think about it until he got to talk to Miley about it.

They arrived at the venue soon after that. The day went by fast until Nick would look at his phone. It was like he would be moving around, getting things ready, it was a good distraction and he wouldn't even think about it. But then when things were slow or his phone would go off he'd get excited only to be disappointed. Then he'd need to start doing something else to distract him again. Meet and greets went by quickly, most girls just giggled and smiled when they met them. Nick figured it was because they were so star-struck. But there was one girl who reminded him of Miley. She was just out there and goofy and had the prettiest smile, next to Miley's of course. That made it hard, because then he started thinking about Miley again.

After the meet and greet he pulled out his phone from his pocket and looked to see if he had any messages and his heart gave a sigh of relief when he saw that Miley had finally texted him.

"good to know. i got a little caught up in filming, can i call you?"

Nick wanted to just call her right then but he realized he had to get on stage in an hour and there was still a lot to do. He texted her back with:

"how about i call you after the show, say 10pm, my time? i have to get ready now."

He was sure she would say okay to that, but then again she'd been surprising him a lot. This time she responded immediately, _that's my girl_, Nick thought.

"sure, love ya."

They were getting dressed, little bit of make up and hair, getting earpieces and instruments all ready. Then it was finally show time.

The show went quickly, the love of his fans always made Nick feel better. No matter what kind of mood Nick was in, whether he wanted to do a show or not, after the first song he was always in an immensely better mood. He would never get over how much he loved his fans and how much they loved him.

When he got done with the show he grabbed his phone from his mom and went to change and find a place to call Miley in privacy. He quickly changed and dabbed off the sweat that was still rolling down his face. He found a stairway that was down an empty corridor. Nick dialed Miley's number quickly. It hadn't changed ever since he knew her so he had it memorized.

It was a few rings before she finally answered.

"Hey." Miley said.

"Hey babe." Nick responded with. It was silent for a second. "How was your day?"

"It changed so much to say the least." Miley said. Nick just waited for her to finish her story.

"Well, after we hung up apparently Liam heard most of the conversation. He figured out you were my boyfriend and apparently he wasn't okay with that. I mean I know he wasn't thrilled that I had a boyfriend but he was even less happy when he found out it was you. I guess he was mad because I wasn't giving him a chance because I was with you and I'd already given you chances and stuff. Well I kind of yelled at him and he left. But then I was waiting for you to text me when he came to apologize to me and we talked, for a while. We talked about this helmet we all wear and we just really connected. I mean he's really awesome and I totally had him all figured out wrong." Miley said all of this in what seemed like one sentence.

"Are you breaking up with me Miley?" Nick asked. She giggled but Nick was serious.

"No, no, no. I even think you and Liam would get along. But we put the whole thing behind us and we just spent the whole day together. A bunch of us all went out to dinner and we danced and I've never had this much fun. I mean this feels like what a real teenage summer is. Being out in the sun all day, going out at night. I think this is going to be a great summer."

Nick smiled, he was glad she was so happy. He wished he could've been with her. He was jealous. Normally there is nowhere else he'd rather be than on tour but he missed Miley, a lot. He was jealous of the "normal" teenage summer she was having without him.

"That's great, Miley, I wish I could be there." Nick said with as much enthusiasm as he could gather.

"I wish you could be here too, but I know how much your tour means to you."

Nick sighed. "Yeah, the crowds are great and I just love it. After doing 'Before the Storm' I keep thinking you're going to just show up from under the stage one of these times."

"That was a really special night Nick, and I'll never ever forget it."

Nick smiled, "Me too."

"Me too? Nick is that the best you can come up with?" Miley said in a teasing voice.

"Hey, at least I didn't wait until right before I was about to go on stage to text me back." Nick knew she was kidding but he was a bit upset that she hadn't even said sorry about taking so long to get back to him.

It was silent. "I'm sorry, I guess I just caught up in talking with Liam and filming I just didn't think about it until then. I didn't mean too. I'm sorry." Miley sounded hurt.

"I'm sorry, I was just worried. It's not normal for you to take so long to text back." Nick said laughing at the end, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work.

"Yeah, weird. Well, I have to get up early tomorrow and do a lot of shooting including some night scenes so I probably won't get a lot of chances to talk to you. But I'll try to text you when I have time and I'll let you know when I won't be able to text back right away. So yeah, goodnight."

"Oh, okay. Goodnight, I love you." Nick said.

"Love you too." Miley added before hanging up the phone.

Nick sighed, _Good job you jerk. _He got up and rejoined his family who were now getting on the bus. He climbed into bed and fell asleep instantly.


	11. Chapter 11

Miley woke up in extremely good mood even though it was to the sound of her annoying alarm. She was ready for the day any way. She was ready to make new memories, new mistakes; she was ready to start again and not waste it in bed or on the phone. Although she was extremely happy to be up, she was still frustrated with Nick. What had happened to the guy that wasn't worried as long as she wasn't worried? Did she sound worried when she was talking about how she made up with Liam and now things were absolutely perfect? She hadn't even looked at Liam as a boyfriend. She wanted to make a good first impression with the cast members on the set of "The Last Song" and she had already decided that no matter who they cast as Will she would avoid dating them. She didn't want things to go bad and then have it be awkward on set or at the premiere.

But she was tempted into the thought of her and Liam after what had happened with Nick. She didn't have to imagine much seeing as had already done a few scenes with him and was doing more with him today. He was a perfect gentleman in every way. He was tall, something Nick didn't have on him, and then Miley wouldn't have to be worried about wearing heels and being taller than him.

_What are you doing? This is your boyfriend you're bashing on!_ Miley ignored her thoughts and started getting ready to head to the make-up and hair trailer. She went to the bathroom and began getting ready to head out; she showered, brushed her hair and teeth, and washed her face. She didn't bother changing into real clothes and just put her PJs back on since she would just have to change into whatever wardrobe wanted Ronnie to wear. Today she broke her norm; she left her phone on the side table by her bed. _Hopefully I won't go crazy_. She met her mom in the kitchen and they both walked to the trailer.

"Mom, I have got to talk to you about Nick and me." Miley blurted out the second they stepped out of the house.

"What, baby girl?" Her mom asked. There was no surprise in her voice, like she was so used to hearing about problems with Nick.

"We talked on the phone yesterday and I told him about Liam being this awesome guy and I don't know what happened but then he just got this attitude with me. Like I made a little joke and he then just snapped back with this snarky remark about how I took too long to text him back."

Miley's mom just laughed, Miley looked at her pryingly. "This doesn't sound like news to me." Miley still looked at her mom with the same look. "I feel like I've heard this before Miley. I care and want to help you with your boy troubles, but you and Nick always get in petty little fights that usually lead to bigger fights. Some times they don't, but most of the time they do."

"Yeah," was all Miley could get out. Was their relationship really this foreseeable? "So what should I do?"

"Either just forget about it, I'm sure he didn't really mean anything by it anyway. Or ask him about it, get it out now and work it out."

Miley just nodded. They walked in silence until they got to the trailer. Miley sat in hair and make up in silence for about five seconds until the rest of her cast mates walked in and she started being the smiley girl she always was. When Liam walked in she smiled at him and he smiled back at her. He came and sat next to her and they couldn't stop talking. They talked all the way to the first scene they were shooting. They were supposed to be running and playing in the tide, Liam picking Miley up and Miley just giggling and smiling.

They began shooting and everything just felt so natural. Like this wasn't a scene they were shooting about two characters, but about them as Liam and Miley. Everything was going great with the scene when Miley heard the director shout, "Kiss her!" Miley and Liam looked at each other; they hadn't done any kissing scenes yet. Liam seemed a little apprehensive, but Miley was just dying she was trying as hard as she could to make her eyes scream _kiss me_. Finally Liam leaned over and kissed Miley.

Nick woke up later than he normally did, they were still on the road and although his family was loud he was used to it and could sleep through a lot of things now. He didn't want to wake up which usually helped keep him asleep. He kept dreaming that Miley was right next to him, and whenever he would wake up and realize she wasn't, he would just rollover and force himself back to sleep until he dreamt she was there again. He was asleep for so long that Big Rob came to wake him up when they got to the venue. Nick's immediate reaction was to talk to Miley, he looked for his phone but Big Rob dragged him out of the bus.

"Do you know where my phone is?" Nick asked dazedly as he walked with Big Rob

"Your mom probably has it, but we gotta go Nick, you've got sound check in 45 minutes. We thought you were getting up when we got here but you never came out."

"Yeah, sorry, I guess I just had a really good dream." Nick sighed.

When he finally joined his family his mom handed over his cell phone. No messages. Nick was so upset with himself. He finally got her back and now he was just messing it up, just like old times. He tried calling Miley but it rang for the entirety, _at least she's not ignoring my phone calls, just letting them go to the machine_. Nick listened to the automated voice that told him what number he called and to leave his message at the beep, he then began his message:

"Hey Miley, I really want to talk to you some time today, uh just don't call me when I'm onstage, how about I call you again tonight. I hope you pick up. I love you."

Nick hung up and realized how pathetic he must've sounded. All he wanted to hear was her voice but he couldn't even get that. Nick couldn't focus the rest of the day. Through sound check, through prep before the show, he just couldn't connect with the world. When he got on stage he tried his hardest to be there, but it was hard. When he began playing 'Black Keys' he really got emotional, holding back tears, but that was the most he connected with audience all night.

Nick got off stage and saw that Miley hadn't even texted him saying that she'd be there waiting for his call. He decided to wait a little bit, see if she would text him later, if she didn't then he would call. He got on the bus and they headed off on the road again. He hopped in the shower before his brothers; they could tell something was up but knew it was too soon to talk to him. When he got out of the shower he changed and looked at his phone, one message.

_yea, we should talk. –m_

Nick felt his stomach drop. No, she just needs to talk, nothing else. She wouldn't quit this so soon after getting back together. He went to the back of the bus, the room that was designated for his parents. But they were out in front with Frankie and the rest of the family. He shut the door and began calling Miley, she answered after the first ring.

They both exchanged 'hey' and then it was silent.

"So, how was shooting today?" Nick asked.

"Good, I figured you wouldn't want to talk about that of all things." Nick could feel a fight coming on.

"Why not?"

"Because of how peeved you got last night about Liam, what happened to you trusting me and we'd be fine?"

"What are you talking about? How does Liam fit into this?"

"Nick, it was so obvious. You were mad at me last night because of what happened with Liam and me. You can't just let me be friends with a guy; you used to do this all the time when we were dating. You'd be mad at me for one little thing but it'd really be about something else. Like when I first met Justin you were all mad about the fact that he was flirting with me even though, at the time, I wasn't interested because I had you. But you got mad at me and said you were mad because you thought that I was ignoring you."

Nick thought this over for a minute, he was mad because it felt like she was ignoring him and that she was giving more attention to Justin.

"Miley that's not true. Last night I was just upset because I thought I deserved a response that at least explained why you couldn't text me anymore. I was worried about you; you had just talked me and were kind of freaking out. I wasn't sure if you were still okay."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't haven't gotten so mad if I was just at home in L.A. hanging with my family. Or with my friends."

Nick was silent, "Miley, I don't know what to make this right."

"Just admit it, you're jealous of Liam and are taking it out on me."

Nick was silent. "I wasn't feeling the need to be jealous until this conversation."

"Well, I didn't have feelings for Liam until you brought it up last night."

Nick was speechless. When did he turn from a cool guy to someone she had feelings for?

"When did I bring up you liking Liam?" Nick asked, baffled.

"You said something like 'are we breaking up?' and with that attitude you get." Nick tried to remember when he said that but Miley interrupted his thoughts. "Nick, I don't think this is gonna work. We just are in two different places, in everyway possible. I need to figure out who I am, where I'm going. And you, well you've always known where you're going and maybe when I figure out where I'm going we can really work this out, but for now this isn't going to work." Nick could hear the tears in her voice.

"Miley, that's what we said last time I thought we were on that same path I thought-"

"Obviously I was wrong. I guess I just realized that I'm too young to know where I'm going."

"Let me guess Liam pointed that out."

Miley was silent, "I really want you to be more than a chapter, but for now, that's all you are." He heard the click and then lowered the phone and then threw it behind him. _How could she say that? Just a chapter? What happened to them always being friends at least? _ He put his face in his hands. He wanted to cry but couldn't get tears to come out. _What's there to cry about? We were together for all of three days. Three days now and two years before._

Nick just let an exasperated breath, grabbed his phone and headed to bed. He couldn't sleep though, he forced himself to stay awake because he knew what he would dream about and he couldn't stand that thought right now.

**So, there's only going to be a few more chapters. I feel like this story has already out welcomed it's stay, so I'm going to work extra hard on it's last few chapters and make sure they're good and end "happy".**

**How terrible am I for posting this the day after Niley day? Gosh.**


	12. Chapter 12

**This is gonna jump between Miley and Nick. It's also gonna go really fast at first. I didn't proof read as thoroughly as normal, which means there's probably going to be baaad typos. Sorry.**

Miley didn't sleep much that night. She was upset about breaking up with Nick. It would be a long process before they could "reconnect" again and be friends. But she didn't cry much. She felt terrible. She knew this came out of left field. She knew Nick would not be prepared for this at all. But Miley just had to get out of her comfort zone. Leaving L.A. was the first step. Doing something other than Hannah Montana was the next. Her relationship with Nick was just another security blanket she was holding onto. She hated to think of it as Nick holding her back because he wasn't. But in Miley's mind it was their relationship that was constraining her.

Kissing Liam had really changed how she saw him. She had thought that Liam was cute and handsome and a perfect gentleman. But first she had Justin, and then she had Nick. But kissing him sent her head in a spin and she knew there was something more that she just had to pursue. She wanted to explain this to Nick but she thought it would only break his heart more. That night she'd gone to Liam's condo that the studio had gotten for him and she just talked with him about everything she was feeling and it was perfect. She told him how she felt about him but he didn't want to be a rebound. Miley tried to explain that she and Nick hadn't dated long enough to call it a relationship but Liam still refused. He was such a gentleman about it. He said he wanted to just enjoy the time on Tybee as a fun summer with no strings and Miley agreed and they left it at that. Miley went home feeling better than ever.

The next few months of shooting flew by and Miley had the time of her life. She loved spending time with not just Liam but the entire cast and crew of _The Last Song_, they were her family and she would never forget how she felt when it all ended. She really felt grown-up. Her first project away from Disney and she was so proud of it. She hadn't seen anything put together but she was just so proud of everyone involved that she knew it would be good.

When she had to say goodbye to Liam, it was hard, he was going back to Australia for a while and Miley was headed back to L.A. to start up her tour. They hadn't confirmed or denied dating to the tabloids or to themselves. Liam didn't want to be a rebound and Miley was having too much fun to worry about pleasing a boyfriend, the summer had been awesome not worrying about it so she just figured she'd keep doing that. But when they said goodbye, it felt like she was saying goodbye to her best friend for almost forever. It tore her apart inside for weeks. They Skyped all the time and eventually decided that once they met up again they would start officially dating. But that wouldn't happen for quite some time. The first they would see each other again was in Paris for a Teen Vogue shoot.

While she was on tour everyone kept gossiping about how Nick was probably going to show up at some concert to do a 'Before the Storm' duet with her, but Miley squashed that rumor before too many people got excited. She hadn't talked to Nick since that night. He had made no attempts to contact her or anything, which was exactly what Miley wanted.

It was hard for Nick to hear all these things about Miley and just stand by and have people constantly ask him about it. He wanted to tell them what happened but he had an image to protect that Miley was obviously less concerned about. Nick hated it, but he was letting the media's definition of Miley become his own definition of Miley. He would normally talk to her and know her well enough to know which rumors were true, but now he just relied on what ever he heard and accepted it. He didn't question it or defend her. He would just nod and move on.

As much as they would've liked it to seem like an easy break up and they were fine not communicating even a little bit, it wasn't this way. Nick wanted to talk to her, even if it was about Liam, he wanted to be in on it and Miley wanted him to be in on it. She wanted to talk to him and hope they'd finally become friends again but since they could never seem to just be friends they didn't try.

When Miley and Liam became public it made things even harder. Nick would see them at same social events but avoid them like they were lepers. He wasn't doing it to be rude, he just knew that it was never the time or place to start talking to Miley again. They hardly even made eye contact with each other when they would be at the same social events. Miley remembered one time when she was headed into the Disney Studios right as Nick was headed out. They each caught glances at separate times as they walked past each other and never attempted to talk. Miley wondered if it broke his heart as much as it did hers that they couldn't even look at each other without pain or resentment.

But when Miley's CD was getting promoted like crazy, Nick decided that maybe it was the right time to at least talk to her again, it had been a year. He'd figured out that she'd be in London the same time as him, by some miracle.

He called Miley, but she didn't answer. Nick thought about leaving a message but decided against it. He knew she would see that he called and hoped that she would figure out why and just call him back instead of making him leave a painfully sad message.

Nick had been in London for quite some time now. He was away from practically everyone he knew. It was awesome. He made new friends, met more girls, his mind had almost been completely erased of what happened last year. But he had to go back eventually to get ready for tour. He was talking with his dad on the phone, he told Nick that his plane would have to stop in Detroit to refuel and then they would leave for L.A. Nick's gears went in motion, he knew Miley was going to be filming her new film there soon, thanks to Demi, and he would not pass up this chance to at least talk to her. He told his dad to give him three or four extra hours in Detroit. His Dad agreed and didn't bother asking what about, lately Nick had been brushing off anything related to love or girls and his parents had learned to just not even bring it up.

Nick dialed the same number he'd had memorized since he first met Miley. This time she answered.

"Hi." She said abruptly.

Nick was a little shocked, she'd answered; "Hi" was all he could get out.

It was silent for a moment before Nick picked up the conversation again, "You might completely turn me down, but I was hoping we could just talk one day when you're in Detroit. It's not one of those talks where I have this duet planned for us and then we turn into 'us' again. I just want to talk."

Miley kind of laughed, "Glad to see your dry sense of humor hasn't gone anywhere. Nick, I would like that."

Nick gave her the day he would be flying in on and at what time, Miley told him she'd let the production team and studio know about it and try to get as much time off as she could. They hung up after they exchanged simple goodbyes.

Their "date" crept up slowly on Nick. He was anxious but he was having too much fun in London that it wouldn't bother him for more than five minutes. But it was the day before his flight out of London, finally time for him to go back to L.A. Goodbyes were hard and life would go back to normal; tour, L.A. friends, and Disney breathing down his neck for another Jonas Brothers album. He texted Miley about what they were going to do and she texted back a few hours later saying she'd only gotten a few hours off and that they could go out to lunch in a nearby hotel. He told her that he'd have his car pick her up from set and drop her off too.

Miley was so nervous for their lunch. She didn't know what he'd ask, what he'd want to talk about, or what was going to happen. But she was glad that she would finally get some resolution. She'd been so anxious to be on speaking terms with Nick again once they'd planned this lunch. He was one of her best friends and she only wanted the best for him and knowing that they'd shut each other out so much _again_ was hard. Miley was now waiting at her hotel for Nick's text to let her know to come down to the lobby. She wore a simple black dress, it was tight around her chest but was flowy at the bottom and she wore converse and a brown vest on top. She only waited a few minutes for Nick's text, she headed downstairs and there were a few fans but Miley smiled and took a few pictures and found a limo with a driver waiting next to the back door. He recognized Miley and opened the door. Miley slid in and saw Nick looking down at his phone.

"Hey," she said softly.

Nick looked up from his phone and gave her a once over, and it felt weird to Miley. She became a little self-conscious, was she dressed inappropriately? Had she spilled something? She looked down and didn't see anything wrong. Nick was wearing jeans and a tucked-in button-up shirt, just as casual as her outfit. She let her momentary concern pass when Nick responded, "Hey, good to see you." He then reached over and gave Miley one of those awkward car hugs that don't usually work because people are seated funny, but it felt right to Miley and Nick.

"So, how are you?" He asked.

"Fine, I just did some scenes for my movie. Demi's pretty cool, so is the director, and Ashley Greene, you know from the Twilight stuff?" Miley said and Nick just nodded. "And me and her have been getting along great, it's really fun. But yeah, how was London and Les Mis?"

"Great, it was cool doing the same show but a different person. Really fun. It's weird being around British people 'cause then I would start to think in a British accent and then sometimes I even caught myself trying to speak with an accent just in casual conversation." Miley laughed a little.

"That'd be weird to hear. A New Jersey boy with a British accent?" She said smiling.

"Yeah, I know. It was kind of embarrassing when some of the my friends there would catch me trying to imitate them. Now that I'm back home I think I'll be fine."

"Well, good, I like you better with an American accent." Nick just chuckled and it was silent before they pulled up to the other hotel where they would have lunch.

"I figured here fans wouldn't be expecting me. Nobody from the movie is staying here but it's still pretty fancy and I hear the restaurant is good." Miley said as she opened the door to the limo. The driver scurried next to her as he helped her out. They got to the restaurant in the hotel without being recognized and were seated immediately in the back of the restaurant in a booth.

They chitchatted as they looked over the menu and then ordered. As they waited for their food the conversations started to get shorter. They were running out of mild topics that would be easy and casual to talk about. They both knew they'd have to talk about some more serious stuff eventually, Miley finally had the guts to say something about it.

"So, what are we really here to talk about?" She asked.

"I just, I guess I really just wanted to talk to you. About anything, I just wanted you to let me in again. And I hate that we've gone back to the way we acted the first time we broke up. I thought we'd grown up and gotten better. I just hated having to hear about you through the news and interviews and stuff." That was all Nick genuinely wanted. He knew she was with Liam and they seemed pretty happy, Nick wasn't going to ruin that, he didn't even think he stood a chance against Liam.

"You're right. And I want the same thing. I want to really talk to you like we used to. But I don't know if we can do that by just being friends. Last time we tried this we just started dating again." Miley was right, when they started writing "Before the Storm" they just ended up becoming more than friends.

"Can we just try? If it doesn't work then it doesn't work and we move on. But I'm willing to try if you are." Nick sounded desperate. Miley knew that it wasn't the kind that was a turn off, but just an old friend looking for a chance.

"Sure. Why not?" They both smiled at each other, now not sure where to start. Before either one could break the silence their food came and they both started eating. Halfway through Miley felt like she had to break the silence again but Nick did this time.

"So, you and Liam? He seems great." Miley wasn't sure what was happening. He wanted to talk like they used to but they never talked about boyfriends and girlfriends because they were their boyfriend and girlfriend. But Miley was willing to give it a chance.

"Yeah, now it's hard just because he's still in L.A. but it's still really good." Miley didn't want to talk about herself anymore. This was just weird. She'd wanted to talk to him about Liam but it was making Miley uncomfortable. "What about you, meet any girls in London?"

Nick smiled. He recognized her obvious "change-the-subject" tactic. "No, I knew I wasn't going to be in town too long and didn't feel like getting into something. Besides, there weren't any girls I was all that interested in. But Liam, is he working on anything exciting?" Nick was not ready to give up and he wanted to hear about Liam. It might have been out of his curiosity to see what made him so much better than Nick, or just that he was interested but probably not the latter.

"He's in talks and getting ready for the roles I think they're all pretty physical so he's just getting his body ready and making sure he'll be able to handle it."

"Yeah, that's cool. Is that the kind of genre he wants to go into? Like action?"

"I guess so, he's always talked about trying to be a chameleon and always going for something different then the last. But he's still making his name. I mean, just being my boyfriend doesn't get you that far, but it does help." Miley smiled at her own joke.

"Oh yeah, Jonas Brothers would've gone no where if it hadn't been for the appearance on Hannah Montana and 'us'." Miley and Nick both laughed awkwardly. Nick took to Miley's attack and changed the subject quickly.

"So, 'Can't Be Tamed', good album."

"Oh yeah, thanks. You bought it?" She was beaming that he was talking about her album. That was one thing that would never get awkward between them, talking about music.

"Yeah, I didn't buy the physical one but I did get off iTunes. I like the songs, 'Take Me Along' is good and so is, uh, 'Stay'. How'd you come up with that name?" Nick was a little curious as to why she did that. Why she went with that name and why not anything else in the world.

She sighed, "I knew you'd bring this up. Look, I know this isn't about copyright or anything and that it's personal, but I just, I don't know, it fit."

Nick's lips went tight and Miley knew that he was getting frustrated. "Miley, I sent you an advance copy of my solo album even sent you my version of 'Stay' that I recorded in my hotel when I first wrote it. I didn't get any response back. Why would you write a song and call it the same thing when you knew about mine?"

"Nick I wrote my 'Stay' in November, it's about Liam. I wasn't going to change my song just because of some weird coincidence."

"And 'Permanent December?" Nick asked.

"Nick, I know, but it wasn't about you or when we broke up."

"December was obviously important enough for you to mention in your book. I mean come on Miley." They weren't eating any more. Some how this nice lunch had turned into bickering like they used to when they were together.

"Nick, not everything I do is inspired by you. You're not the only inspirational thing in this world."

"Yeah, but Miley, I mean come on. You can't tell me all those songs are all about Liam."

"All the songs on 'Breakout' were about you, and most of 'Meet Miley Cyrus'. And I guess that means what we had has a lot of writing value but that doesn't mean I can't find that with someone else. You inspired 'Take Me Along'. Or did you just conveniently skip the song about how you weren't there for me? And Liam has me inspired too. He's not just some cut out I stand with that has no personality and doesn't make me feel anything. He makes me feel grown up and like a young lover all at the same time. I love that and he's always got so much to say and all of it is amazing. Why can't you see that I'm not going to be stuck to one person when I'm 17?"

"Then why are you still with Liam?" Nick asked finding the flaw in her argument.

"Nick, I don't know where I'm going with Liam, with the next guy I date, with you. I've never permanently cut you out of my future. I've always felt like you were a missing part of me but I feel that with Liam too. And who knows, maybe I'll feel that with someone else too. But I'm so young. I have so long to figure it out. Besides dating Liam for a while is better than dating you again." Miley's jaw dropped, "That's not what I meant. I just meant that we've already dated and I know what I'm getting into with you." Miley said trying to fix it before Nick got mad but it was too late.

"And that's not good enough, no I get it Miley." Nick pulled out cash from his wallet and threw it on the table, "That should cover it. You can take my limo, I'll just get a cab."

"Nick, stop, you know that's not what I meant." Miley yelled, but Nick kept walking. Nick was in the lobby ready to head out and get in the first taxi he saw but he felt a hand grab his elbow and he flung around to Miley's teary eyes.

"Miley, let me go." Nick said but Miley's hand was firmly grasped on his elbow. Miley then pulled him to the stairway entrance and Nick didn't put up a fight. Miley shut the door behind them.

"Look," Miley started leaning against the door so Nick couldn't leave, "Yeah, I guess some of the songs weren't just about Liam, but they weren't just about you. But I can tell you that when I sing those songs I think about Liam and what I have with him. But when I sing my older songs I think of you and my mind always changes. Half the time I'm in love with us and other times I'm just totally frustrated by us. Nick, we're both young and free but we tie each other down in so many ways. I don't want that and I don't think you want it either. Us ignoring each other obviously doesn't work either because we just bottle it up and then explode at each other. If we ever did date again, I don't know how we'd get past the resentment that we felt when we were ignoring each other."

"I don't want to ignore you and I guess a part of me does still want us to get back together. Watching Kevin get married was really surreal for me. There was a time when I thought that was going to be us."

"Nick, don't you realize how crazy that is? Maybe if we were both in Franklin or Wyckoff, but we're these huge mega stars known all around the world. Before we broke up because we couldn't be there for each other when we really needed one another. That would be even harder now. We're both doing completely different things right now. We're in different places constantly."

"But it's so much different now Miley." Nick had more of an argument but Miley interrupted him.

"What happened to this not being a talk where we start dating again? Nick I told you, I haven't completely carved you out of my future. I've never been sure with you where we'd end up. I'd always thought we'd be at least friends but we can't ever seem to get that right. How could we date if we can't even just be friends?"

"Because I love you and that's why we can't be friends, there's too much between us." Nick blurted out.

"Nick, I love you too, and I always will and I'll always support you even when we aren't talking." Miley moved closer to Nick and grabbed his hand. "But I've learned so much from _The Last Song_." Miley couldn't believe that she was plugging her own movie, neither could Nick, "Like that sometimes you have to be apart from the things you love. Maybe you don't feel the same way as me, but I need to be free and young and do all the things I may never get a chance to do again. I need to find me while it's easy to figure out."

"Miley, I don't think I can wait around. I know if I find another girl that gives me at least one-tenth of the feeling that you make me feel, I'll marry her. I swear to God."

Miley started sobbing uncontrollably, and even though what Nick said upset her it wasn't sob worthy because Nick was never the kind of guy that would jump in headfirst and she knew he didn't mean it. "Nick, I love you so much. There's not one atom in my body that doesn't love you. I would do anything for you." Nick tried to hug Miley but she put her hand up and he knew not to try again. "If you told me I could have Liam but lost you forever I would dump Liam. But I'm begging you, don't do that to me."

Nick realized something. All this time he thought that Miley had him wrapped around her finger and that he was the one being dragged on this roller coaster ride of drama. But Miley was wrapped around his finger too. They both had power over each other that was ultimately detrimental to their lives. Unless they were together then it was magical. Nick knew then that what he had with Miley would never be over. There would be times when there would be an opportunity for them to be together and Nick would snag that chance every time. He knew that he didn't have to worry about whoever dated Miley because in the end she'd always come back. It was like he was in on the secret. Miley was his destiny and it had just now clicked in his head. It wasn't a matter of if it was a matter of when. "I'm sorry, Miley. I didn't want this lunch to go like this. I'll try and make it up to you."

Miley looked at him, "How?"

"I'll leave you alone. You won't hear from me except for when you're ready."

"I'm ready. I thought this was us being friends having a good lunch?" Miley asked slightly suspicious.

"I think you still need more time. You were just saying how you needed to find you. Once you've found a bit more of her then maybe you'll be ready." He prayed that when she found more of herself she would realize what he'd realized.

Nick could see steam coming out of her ears, well not really, but that's what he always envisioned whenever Miley got this mad. "Nick, you're kidding me right? You're the one that has been having a problem with just being friends. Why do you think I'm not ready?"

Before Nick could respond the door opened, they both looked to see a familiar blonde Aussie. Nick couldn't help but get angry. Why was _he_ here? Had Miley really brought Liam for when she wanted to make a clean getaway? Nick wanted to be happy that Miley knew Nick so well and knew that he would try to win her back. But he couldn't help being angry that she thought it was necessary to bring in backup for when she didn't want to talk to Nick anymore.

"Liam, not now." Miley said quietly.

Nick stopped him from leaving. "No, you should take her now." He said glaring at Liam, he then shifted his gaze to Miley. "I can't believe you brought him Miley."

Miley spun around to Nick, "We're not done talking." Nick put his hand on Miley's back and led her to Liam. She tried to resist but Liam seemed to go along with Nick, grabbing Miley's wrist but she both swatted them away.

"Nick, Liam is only here because I didn't know how this would go. I would've brought someone from set but he's visiting and this doesn't mean anything. We need to talk more."

"Miley," Nick said avoiding her gaze, "Just go, please. It wouldn't have mattered who you brought."

Miley felt more tears welling up in her eyes. She wanted to hug Nick or give him a kiss on the cheek but she couldn't. Not just because Liam was standing there, but she couldn't imagine how that would make this better. She walked past Liam who held the door open for her. He trailed after her and quickly catching up and then leading her to his rental car. Miley cried silently in the car ride back to set. She was glad that Liam didn't try to get her to talk about it.

When they got back to her trailer she only had 30 minutes before she had to get back to acting. She and Liam cuddled on the couch in her trailer and she tried to cry as much as she could hoping that it would me she would cry less when she was acting. It didn't really help much because now her eyes were red and puffy and the make-up lady had a difficult time covering it up. But Miley pushed through her scenes and scurried back to her trailer where Liam was still waiting.

Liam then started to ask questions about what happened with Nick. She told him everything to the best of her ability. She wasn't sure why he had gotten so upset. She couldn't figure out whether it was truly because she had had Liam there. But Liam seemed to understand that it was too fresh of a wound for her to talk about any further.

Nick found that waiting around for Miley was easier than he thought. She hadn't tried to make contact him. He was on set for tour and he was surrounded by good friends and, most importantly, his family. His days were so full that there was hardly room for other thoughts other than practicing songs and figuring out how he was going to sing 'Introducing Me' in under 2 minutes. But then, like clockwork, right before he'd fall asleep Miley would creep into his thoughts. Would she really make him wait around for forever? Had he made a stupid promise?

Talking to Demi hadn't comforted him either. Nick had opened up to her about everything and about him knowing Miley was his destiny. When he had said it out loud he didn't realize how crazy it sounded but it didn't change the way he felt. But Demi was still bitter about what had happened with Joe and had told Nick to move.

Nick and Demi had been hanging out backstage in her dressing room a few hours before they had to go perform for the night. "So for your birthday, what are we doing?"

"I just wanted to go bowling at Pinz, you know after tour and everything. And just have like you, me, Joe and maybe someone else so it's not too awkward for you guys." Nick definitely had another someone else in mind.

"Nick I'm going to tell you something but I hope you don't take it wrong."

Nick could feel his heart rate skyrocket. "Okay."

"Miley wants to talk to you again." Demi said as though she'd just given Nick a death sentence.

"How would I take that wrong?"

"I just don't know that this means what you think it means."

Nick just laughed, "I'm ready to be friends with her whenever she is. Whatever."

Demi just stared at him, "I'm just preparing you, I mean she's told me how she feels but I don't think I can tell you. Girl code or something."

Nick scoffed, "If you can't tell me, then don't bring it up. I don't tell you stuff about what Joe says." He left Demi's dressing room angrier then ever. He knew that was harsh to say to Demi but what she was saying wasn't helpful at all. Miley wants to talk, but about what? Obviously not about getting back together. But does she really want to talk or does she instead want to try and be friends and ignore that she has a boyfriend? He'd never been so mad at Demi before but Demi was like his sister, no matter how bad of a fight they'd move on and be back to normal soon enough.

The rest of tour flew by and Nick and Demi had apologized and moved on like Nick predicted. He asked her to invite Miley to the bowling alley. Demi lied for Nick and told Miley that she was only asking her because she didn't want it to just be Nick and Joe. Miley believed it and it was set. Nick would be seeing Miley again for his birthday.

The day approached and Nick was anxious. He knew it would still be fun because he'd at least have Joe if things did go wrong. But he trusted Demi and Miley to not let it get overdramatic. Joe said he'd drive Nick and while Joe was standing in Nick's bedroom doorway Nick was frantically looking around his room.

"What are you even looking for?" Joe said impatiently.

"My ring. I lost it on tour but I figured I'd just left it on the bus or in a pants pocket and it'd turn it. It's not the first time it's happened but we've been home for a week or two and I still can't find it." Nick said flipping over the pillows on his bed.

"Well, we're already ten minutes late and the girls are going to be mad if they're left their to fend for themselves."

Nick sighed and decided to give up. He followed behind Joe to his car. They got to the bowling alley and there weren't any paparazzi, which was surprising. Joe gave the valet attendant his keys and they both headed inside. They grabbed shoes from the lady at the bowling counter and Nick could've sworn she was trying to flirt with Joe but Joe didn't seem to notice, "Where's the private party room?" Joe asked, now Nick was sure Joe knew the girl was flirting with him.

"Here, I'll take you to it." She said breathlessly.

"No, that's okay. It's just off the right, isn't it?"

"Oh. Yeah." She nodded and Nick and Joe headed straight over. To the door that they could now see was marked 'Private'. They walked in and found Demi messing with the computer.

"Hey guys," Demi started and Nick looked around for Miley, "Miley went to the bathroom, she'll be right back." Nick and Joe sat down and started getting there bowling shoes on. Nick could feel his heart in his throat he was so anxious to see how it would be just hanging out with Miley. Nick had gone to pick out a bowling ball when he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around and saw Miley. Nick was a little speechless but eventually found some words.

"Hey, I'm glad you came." He finally got out. Miley smiled and hugged Nick, wrapping her arms around his neck. Nick couldn't help but be creepy and take notice that she had worn the perfume he loved.

"I need to give you your present." She said looking at him almost mournfully, like she was about to cry. Uh oh.

"Sure, uh, I think there's a private booth back there." He looked over and sure enough there was. He felt a little guilty leaving Demi and Joe to themselves but they seemed to be able to manage.

Nick and Miley sat down and the tableless booth. Nick waited patiently for Miley to say something but she seemed to just be staring at her hands, then she looked away and she seemed to be crying.

"What's wrong?" Nick couldn't wait for her anymore.

Miley mentally prepare herself before she spoke. "After what happened in Detroit I had no idea what to do. I mean I didn't want to get back with you because, I don't know, out of stubbornness. I just didn't want you to be right. But I talked about it with Liam a couple weeks after and he really opened my eyes." She finally looked over at Nick on the verge of tears. "I've been fighting every thing in my life. Disney, media, even my fans a little. And Liam showed me that I was rebelling just because I wanted to. Not because there was anything wrong with it I just wanted to be able to turn my back on everyone and show them that," Miley chuckled, "well, I don't even know. I just rebelled."

Miley paused for only a second to catch her breath, "But Liam made me realize that I was only with him because I wanted to show everyone that I could out do us. That I could be with someone longer than I was with you. And, I do love him, but it's not the same as with you. Demi told me that you were willing to wait forever for me. I don't think that's fair but I also couldn't believe you were willing to do that for me when I would've never done that for you, well at least back in August. When I told Liam that he said he could never imagine doing that for anyone. And we broke up. And here I am. With your present."

Nick couldn't believe what he heard. She'd really found what he'd realized and wasn't expecting it, at least not this soon. "Miley, this is the best present I've ever gotten." He wanted to embrace her but Miley was then pulling something out of her pocket.

"Open." She said handing a tiny box to him, wiping the tears from her eyes. There didn't seem to be anymore coming so Nick was more than happy to open the present, although he really couldn't imagine anything better.

Nick tore newspaper wrapping off of it, Miley had started about how she didn't have any wrapping paper but Nick was zoning out a bit. It was a ring box… If this was an engagement ring, shouldn't he be the one giving it to her? But he proceeded to open it and saw his purity ring.

"You… Found it?" He said a little baffled.

"Demi took it for me. I added something to it." Miley said as she scooted right next to Nick, her legs pressing against his. She took the ring out and showed him the inside and her name was there.

"I know it seems crazy for me to do this, especially since we've been so up and down lately. But I promise to never stop us again. Whatever that is. But right now I can't see it being anything else other than… Us."

Nick couldn't look up. His eyes were glued to the engraved words. It wasn't Miley. It was Destiny. He loved the name Miley, but he had always loved Destiny because then he could say she was his Destiny. Yeah it was cheesy, but her name was Destiny how could he not do that?

"Miley, I, this is perfect." He said looking up at her and then moving in the kiss her. It was a brief kiss but it felt like forever since he had touched those lips in a year.

"So, you should we bowl?" Nick said, acting like he'd just won the lottery, sliding the ring on his finger.

"There is one thing I want to tell you. I still am really close with Liam." Nick's lottery feeling dropped, like he'd just realized the numbers were smudged and weren't the winning numbers at all.

"What do you mean by 'really close'?" Nick asked feeling his temper rise a little.

"Before you get mad I hope you remember that he was the one that led me back to you. He broke up with me and helped me gain the courage to do all this, admit that I was wrong and come here tonight." And like she had read his mind, "And no, he's not here. But I'm still best friends with him Nick. He went with me to the jeweler to get your name engraved. And I will cut back on how much time I spend with him because I know that it will bug you, but I can't cut him out. Just like I never cut you out. I honestly think you guys would get along and I think he'd want to be friends with you seeing as he's still willing to be friends with me."

Nick wanted to argue, like Liam really wanted to be friends with her. We'll see how that changed when Liam was a movie star without the help of Miley. Nick had always thought Liam was only with Miley for her fame. Why else would a 20 something Australian be with 16, now 17, Miley Cyrus? Nick never really trusted Liam. But Nick didn't fight her. She was right and as long as she did as she said and cut back on the time she spent with Liam he'd be fine.

"Okay, but, you're my Destiny, not his." He said lightly, at least he hoped it sound light.

Miley just giggled, "I know, I put a ring on it didn't I?" She said holding up his hand. Nick wished he could've put a ring on her finger but he knew she'd never say yes, at least not for a while.

Nick and Miley walked back to Joe and Demi who were talking casually. Demi say Nick and Miley coming back first and looked down to see their hands intertwined and she smiled at Miley and Nick. Demi just smiled, "So, we gonna play or not?"

The played so many rounds that they would've lost count if Joe hadn't been gloating so much about his 270 score. Miley enjoyed it so much more than she thought. She had worried that Nick would say no and refuse to get back together with her or freak out about the ring or that the night would just be awkward. But it honestly felt like they were on a double date. Miley didn't dare mention that to Demi, knowing how upset she would've gotten. Miley did catch Joe texting every once in a while, and Miley assumed it was Ashley. But Miley would completely forget about Joe and Demi when Nick would ask for a good luck kiss right before he'd go to bowl. She was thrilled that she and Nick just slid back into their comfortable couple ways. When they were finally finished, Joe and Demi started putting the balls back and Nick and Miley embraced for a bit.

"You know the party doesn't have to end here." Miley said.

"Did you really just plagiarize me?" Nick teased, "So, you wanna come back to my place?" Nick asked and Miley just nodded against his chest.

"Okay, well Joe will drive me back to my place and you just want to follow behind?" Miley looked up at him a little confused. "Do you want the media getting started on another 'Niley' frenzy?"

"Good point, besides Demi drove me." Miley left Nick's arms and grabbed his hand gently as they left the private party room and immediately let go of each other's hands. Nick went to pay but Demi and Miley demanded that they pay. Nick begrudgingly allowed it and he and Joe headed out when they ran into a fan, she wanted a picture so Nick and Joe each took a picture with her separately.

When Demi and Miley left they also ran into her. Miley was counting her blessings. If she and Nick had headed out together she knew the fan would've wanted a picture with both of them.

Demi pulled up to Nick's parent's house right behind Joe's car. "You coming in?" Miley asked.

"No, I'm good. Tonight was fun and I don't want to ruin it by going in there and feeling like I belong."

"Demi, stop talking like that. You do belong. I want you there and Nick wants you there, and believe it or not so does Joe."

"Yeah, but, to me, it'll feel like I belong there as his girlfriend." Miley knew there was no way to talk Demi into this so she gave her an awkward car hug and went to the front door. She contemplated knocking on the door or just walking in like she used to but Nick opened it before she could.

"Sorry, I just, I could see you, Joe's gonna stay here tonight but he's already passed out." Nick grabbed Miley's hand and led her up to his room. Both of them knew nothing was going to happen, but they used to do this all the time when they were younger. Just hang out in their room and do, whatever. Miley's parents were very understanding and didn't pry too much a even let them shut the door but Nick's parents were a bit more careful. But it was late and they seemed to have gotten to his room quietly.

Miley looked around, realizing it had been a while since she'd seen his room. It was so much more grown up, but she figured when he saw her room he'd feel the same way. There wasn't much on the wall but two frame posters, one of them Elvis Costello and the other Johnny Cash. The walls were a dark blue and he had matching furniture pieces that were stained dark. His bed looked extremely comfortable since everything was goose down. It just looked fluffy. Miley saw Nick's favorite guitar in the corner, the one he wrote "Before The Storm" on. Miley smiled a little.

Nick closed the door and leaned against and it took Miley a second to realizing he wasn't moving, he was just staring at her.

Miley smiled and walked up to him and leaned against him and they embraced for a moment before it got a little heated. They were caught in a heavy lip lock and it wasn't slowing down until Miley finally pulled away a bit.

"So how was your birthday?" She asked putting her hands on his chest, fixing his shirt.

He chuckled, "Pretty decent. Got the girl of my dreams back."

Miley just smiled and stuck her tongue out a little bit.

"That's new." Nick said, looking at her mouth.

"What?" She asked looking down trying to figure out what he was talking about.

"You usually bite your lip whenever I make you blush, but instead your tongue poked out."

Miley scrunched her face even though her immediate reaction was to stick her tongue out a bit. "Yeah, uh, I don't know what to say. I didn't think anyone would notice." She said feeling her cheeks burning.

"I like it." He said before he went to kiss her again.

Miley just giggled and felt her body lifted off the ground. She wrapped her arms tightly around Nick and pulled her lips away from his as he carried her to the bed. He sat her down on the edge and then sat down next to her.

"I don't want you to go home Miley." Nick said looking at her.

"I won't." She said and then kissed him. "But I need some jammie pants."

Nick laughed, "Jammie pants? How old are you Miss Cyrus?" He said teasingly. Miley just shoved him and he got up and went to his dresser. He pulled out two pairs of basketball shorts. Nick went to his bathroom that was attached to his room and Miley stayed out and changed quickly. She'd only worn a tank top and sweater to the bowling alley so she just decided to sleep in the tank top. She threw the sweater over Nick's desk chair and climbed back into Nick's bed on top of the covers. Miley looked up when she heard door handle turn and was greeted by a shirtless Nick brushing his teeth. Miley became a little self conscious about her breath but was easily distracted by Nick. A lot of things had changed. When Miley had been dating he'd be living diabetes for only a few years and was still working on that before he could start working on getting lean. He also was 14 and that's hard to do at that age. Now that Nick was older he'd obviously changed that. His abs were more defined, his arms were larger, and his v-cut hips were more prominent. His shorts hung low on him, which was the only reason why Miley noticed his hips, at least that's what she tried to convince her self of.

Nick smiled and wanted to say something but it just sounded like gibberish so he waited until he spit and rinsed his mouth to say it again. "You know, I used to think I'd never see you on my bed in my clothes again?"

Miley blushed again, fighting sticking her tongue out. Nick crawled up next to Miley. "Don't stop the tongue thing, it's cute." He said and then kissed her. "Please?" She just smiled and got under the sheets and Nick joined her.

The laid facing each other for a bit in silence before Miley spoke. "I can't promise that I'll always be the same." Nick laughed before he realized Miley was being serious. "But that's why I put my name on your ring. So that you'll always know that I'll still be your Destiny and you'll always be able to reel me back in when I stray too far away."

Nick wrapped one arm on top of her and pulled her close to his chest. "I love you, Miley." Miley responded quickly, "I love you too." They slowly drifted to sleep never letting go the entire night.

**OH MY GOSH. THIS TOOK ME FOREVER TO WRITE. I've been feeling very frustrated with this story and finally figured out how to end it. Yes end it. I've been trying to do a thing where I'll update all my stories chronically and this one has been a major roadblock. I can't remember if I've said this before but I'm just not feeling it with story. But finally finishing it is good because now I can move on with my other stories. Also, finally finding an ending I like really opened me up to so many possibilities that if I ever feel like exploring them I'll come back to this story. **

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